4 Makati cops in kidnap face ax
Four Makati policemen who kidnapped a businessman and extorted P400,000 in exchange for their release would be dismissed from the police service, Director Oscar Albayalde, head of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said yesterday.
He identified them as Police Officers 2 Harley Garcera and Clarence Maynes and PO1s Tim Galzote and Jeffrey Cañete.
“We would see to it that they would be dismissed from the police service based on the administrative aspect of the case,” said Albayalde in an interview. “We don’t need policemen like them. We have so many recruits who would replace them and willing to serve the public as we are mandated.”
He also ordered the investigation of team members SPO1 Ernesto Pagao, PO2 Michael Garcia, PO2 Arijon Arid, and PO1 Jomel Tuazon to determine if they are also involved in the case.
Albayalde said that even if the four policemen managed to convince the complainants to drop the case against them, the administrative aspect would prosper and lead to their eventual dismissal from the police organization, he added.
He added that Senior Superintendent Dionisio Bartolome and Chief Inspector Oscar Pagulayan were also relieved from their posts and “would be investigated whether they have something to do with the kidnapping and extortion of the bike shop owner and his girlfriend last Tuesday.”
Bartolome and Pagulayan are now temporarily assigned at the NCRPO’s Regional Police Holding and Administrative Unit (RPHAU).
“Once proven that Bartolome and Pagulayan have no knowledge of the incident, they would be reinstated to their former posts,” said Albayalde, adding that the officers would also be charged if they are found to be involved.
Members of the Counter Intelligence Task Force (CITF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) arrested the Makati policemen after a bike shop owner and his girlfriend complained of being kidnapped by the suspects along Kalayaan Road in Merville, Pasay last Monday.
The victims said they were dragged into a black car and brought to Pasong Tamo Extension where a negotiation for their release occurred.
CITF chief Senior Superintendent Jose Chiquito Malayo said the police officers allegedly demanded P400,000. The victims were freed after the businessman’s family reportedly paid P100,000.
Malayo said the policemen struck a deal with the victims to pay the remaining P300,000 the next day, prompting police to conduct an entrapment operation against the suspects.