QC cop nabbed for alleged robbery-extortion

MANILA, Philippines — A Quezon City (QC) police officer was arrested for allegedly robbing and extorting money from a fruit vendor in Barangay Pasong Tamo.

According to Philippine National Police (PNP) Gen. Guillermo Eleazar on Wednesday, P/Cpl. Myrldon Linga Yagi who is assigned to the QC Police Department’s Station 14, was arrested during an entrapment inside Barangay Holy Spirit’s barangay hall annex along San Simon Street.

Yagi became the subject of the operation after he allegedly asked P2,000 from the complainant so that his fruit stand in Pasong Tamo will not be dismantled.

Aside from the extortion try, the PNP’s Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG) who conducted the operation said the complainant also claimed that Yagi mauled him and even threatened him with his service pistol.

“Isa na namang kasamahan namin ang napariwara ng landas at itinaya ang kanyang propesyon at ang integridad ng aming organisasyon sa halagang dalawang libong piso,” Eleazar said.

(Another colleague of ours who lost his way and placed his profession and the integrity of our organization at stake for the price of P2,000.)

“Dahil dito ay titiyakin natin na habambuhay na pagsisihan ni Police Corporal Myrldon Yagi ang ginawa niyang pangongotong lalo na kung lumabas sa imbestigasyon na talagang ginawa niya ito,” he added.

(Because of this, we would ensure that Police Corporal Myrldon Yagi would regret his decision for the rest of his life, especially if investigations would show that he really extorted money from the victim.)

According to the PNP-IMEG, Yagi also allegedly asked for the P2,000 in exchange for the fruit vendor’s cellphone which was forcibly taken by the police officer.

Seized from Yagi were the marked cash used in the entrapment,  his Taurus 9mm pistol, two magazines for a 9mm pistol with 16 bullets, his PNP identification card, and P1,635 in cash.

Yagi is now detained at the PNP-IMEG headquarters in Camp Crame as criminal and administrative charges are being prepared against him. Eleazar assured the public of a thorough probe of the incident to determine if Yagi has other cohorts involved in robbery-extortion activities in the area.

Yagi’s arrest said Eleazar should serve as a warning to other police officers who are into similar illegal activities.

“Mahigit na limang libong pulis na ang natanggal sa serbisyo dahil sa iba’t-ibang kaso ng kalokohan at hindi kami titigil dito sa PNP na linisin ang aming hanay upang matiyak na karapat-dapat kaming pagkatiwalaan ng ating mga kababayan na aming pinagsisilbihan,” he added.

(Over 5,000 police officers have been dismissed from the service due to different cases of misconduct, and we in the PNP would not stop ridding our ranks of crooked officers to assure the public that we are deserving of the Filipinos’ trust.)

/MUF