MANILA, Philippines ? Taguig City Mayor Ma. Laarni Cayetano has sought the relief of a police official who headed her security team after the latter allegedly tried to extort money from the owner of a restaurant.

In a statement, lawyer Darwin Icay, the mayor?s spokesperson, said that Cayetano had asked Senior Supt. Camilo Cascolan, the city?s police chief, to investigate the incident which happened on Saturday morning.

Indiscriminate firing

It was also reported that the police official fired his service firearm inside the restaurant, he added.

Icay, however, did not identify the policeman since the case was still under investigation.

?Mayor [Cayetano] will not tolerate any form of illegal activities by any member of the local police force. Her office will not hesitate to file the necessary cases once this report is proven true,? he said.

Based on the statement, Cayetano received the report about the alleged extortion attempt at around 2 a.m. on Saturday. She immediately dispatched a police team to the area to investigate.

When the team spotted the police official, they immediately took him into custody, Icay said.

Cayetano, meanwhile, asked Cascolan to file appropriate charges against the police official should the results of the probe prove the allegations against him.

Other extortion cases

She also ordered him to look into reports that other policemen were extorting money from businessmen in the city.

?These extortion activities must be stopped at all costs because this is sending a negative message to the business community. The mayor will not allow these extortion activities to continue and we will stop these once and for all,? Icay said.