Manila precinct head arrested for extortion of market vendors in Paco amid ECQ

MANILA, Philippines—The commander of the Paz Community Precinct in Ermita, Manila was arrested Wednesday evening for allegedly extorting money from several market vendors amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The police officer was identified as 55-year-old Captain Josep Pedro Bocalbos. He was arrested together with his civilian accomplice Joyce Sajines, 47, for allegedly asking market vendors in their area to shell out P150 each daily, the Philippine National Police Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG) said on a press release on Thursday.

“Walang COVID COVID sa IMEG kapag ang huhulihin ay iskalawag (We do not care about COVID when we deal with scalawags)” PNP-IMEG Director PCol Ronald Lee said.

The two were caught in a sting operation the PNP-IMEG and the National Capital Region Police Office conducted following complaints from market vendors at the public market of Barangay Paz in Paco, Manila.

The money being collected by Sajines was in exchange for the continuous illegal vending of hawkers at the market, the PNP-IMEG said.

Bocalbos and Sajines are now being held at the PNP-IMEG lock-up facility in Camp Crame pending the filing of criminal charges against them. Bocalbos will also be facing administrative charges, according to the release.

Lee also called on the public to report PNP personnel who committed irregularities to the PNP-IMEG hotlines: SMART – 09989702286 or GLOBE – 09957952569.

Information may also be forwarded to its Facebook page, Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group.