More victims of rogue Taguig cops surface

Three more people surfaced on Monday with new charges against a group of Taguig City policemen allegedly involved in kidnapping, robbery and extortion activities.

Aside from PO1 Gererdo Ancheta, PO1 Bryan Amir Bajoof, PO1 Paolo Ocampo and PO2 Joey Maru, the alleged victims identified two other policemen who were reportedly also part of the group — PO1 John Cuyson and SPO1 Charito Castrence.

Ancheta was killed in a shootout last week with other Taguig City policemen who conducted an entrapment operation to capture him and the other members. Bajoof, Ocampo and Maru survived after they gave themselves up.

The six policemen were assigned at the Taguig Police Community Precinct 1 in Western Bicutan, which saw all 39 personnel relieved en masse last week by Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, National Capital Region Police Office director.

Maria (not her real name), one of the victims who surfaced on Monday, claimed that the rogue policemen broke into her house four times.

Sizable loot

She said they first entered her house in Western Bicutan at 2:30 a.m. on July 10, taking a coin bank, P38,000 in cash, two P7,000 tablets, a speaker, three cell phones worth a combined P24,000, a P6,500 notepad, gold jewelry worth P20,000 and an ABS-CBN TV Plus.

Not content with their haul, the policemen allegedly demanded an additional P200,000 from Maria or else, they would file fictitious charges against her.

Maria said she haggled with the group until they reduced the amount to P60,000, with Ancheta personally receiving the money inside a police car.

The group, however, returned to her house on July 12 and July 15, prompting Maria and her live-in partner to leave as they feared for their lives, according to a report to the Southern Police District (SPD).

At 11 p.m. on July 23, the policemen came back yet again, the report said. This time, however, they “forcibly destroyed the door” to the house and took a television set.

That same night, the group allegedly tried to enter the house beside Maria’s, which belonged to her mother and daughter. They were the other two complainants who presented themselves to the SPD on Monday.

The three victims said they recognized the policemen after they came across news of the July 31 shootout.

The firefight occurred after an entrapment operation was conducted against the group, which allegedly raided the house of Rona and her boyfriend, Samuel (not their real names), then held them captive in exchange for P50,000.

‘Bad eggs’ in the PNP

Chief Supt. Tomas Apolinario Jr., SPD director, told the Inquirer that he would assist the victims in the filing of robbery-extortion charges against the policemen, who were a flagrant reminder of the persistent problem of “bad eggs” in the Philippine National Police despite a much-publicized internal cleansing campaign.

He also encouraged other victims to “come out in the open,” saying there were “no sacred cows” in the police force.