ANGELES CITY ? A retired Australian justice of peace, who was charged here two weeks ago with the attempted rape of two minors, said he was set up for an extortion racket by a syndicate within the police that was preying on foreign tourists.

Dr. Stephen Soul, 58, is the first foreigner to openly talk on the supposed scam discussed here discreetly for years, tourism industry leaders on Fields Avenue, this city?s red light district, said.

Soul said he revealed the scam to warn other foreigners.

?I think there is a systematic and organized corruption among the police here where foreigners are targeted by having underage ladies visit men in their hotel rooms or units and then raid the place within minutes to arrest and blackmail them into paying large sums of money,? he said in an e-mail.

?It seems to me that the process is well known to the legal operatives here and there appears to be a ringleader but I cannot establish how high it goes and to whom the money goes,? he said.

Money talk

He refused to pay the P500,000 initially demanded from him by the parents of the girls through an intermediary known as ?Ranger.? Soul has been released from jail since Aug. 25 after posting a P120,000 bail bond.

Asked why he has not submitted a counter-affidavit that cited these allegations, he said: ?There was no opportunity to do that. There was no discussion about the charges. No due process. The police did not ask me for statements. All the time, they were talking about money.?

Court documents on the two cases showed that three members of the police?s Criminal Investigation and Detection Team (CIDT) in Angeles City were behind the raid on his apartment in Josefa Subdivision in Barangay Malabanias at past 3 p.m. on Aug. 13.

Doctorate in economics

Soul has lived here since January. A holder of a doctorate degree in economics, he retired as justice of peace at New South Wales three years ago.

On Aug. 14, he faced inquest proceedings before the prosecutor?s office and transferred to the city jail where he stayed for 10 days.

Supt. Florendo Saligao, CIDT Pampanga chief, denied Soul?s allegations that he was set up for an extortion racket by the police.

?That?s not true. My men have [subjected him for] inquest,? he said.

On the P500,000 demand money, Saligao said: ?It is difficult to comment on that. My order was for an immediate action, to have [Soul presented for] inquest.?

Who is Ranger?

?Ranger,? he said, is a tourist policeman on Fields Avenue and a friend of many foreigners.

Saligao said ?Ranger? is not an employee or civilian informant of the CIDT.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in the city did not know about the cases filed by the minors.

Saligao said the raid was done at the request of the mothers of the minors and that it was part of CIDT?s ?Oplan Sagip Anghel.?

City Administrator Ireneo Alvaro said Soul?s case did not surprise him.

?Anyone who lives in Angeles City knows that such talks have been going on. Our difficulty is that no one has come out complaining. We cannot act without an official complaint,? Alvaro said.

Noel Reyes, president of the Hotels and Restaurants Association in Pampanga, said he was not aware of Soul?s case but he heard that a similar scam has been victimizing foreign tourists.

Soul said that while in jail, he met a Russian inmate named Vadim.

?He?s in jail for the same thing and attorneys know there are dozens and this practice is widespread and well organized at the [police] stations 2, 4 and CIDT,? he said.