8 ‘bogus’ journalists nabbed for extortion, harassment in Laguna

LUCENA CITY – Police nabbed eight fake newsmen early Monday (July 18) for alleged extortion and harassment in Calamba City, Laguna province.

Col. Cecilio Ison Jr., Laguna police chief, identified the arrested suspects as Anne Cortez, 32; Eric Floro, 32; Rose Marie Malazarte, 53; Benjamin Javier Jr, 60; Theresa Regaza, 27; Christoper Yu, 47; Efren Regaza, 22; and Rodamy Prado, 27.

According to the investigators, the suspects were allegedly extorting money from Jinggoy Cahanap, a funfair or “peryahan” operator in the city.

The police said the suspects, who were on board a Toyota FX, identified themselves as media men and reportedly demanded that the victim pay them P8,000 weekly as “protection money” when they met him in Barangay Paciano around 1:30 a.m.

But the victim only gave P2,000, which angered the suspects.

The suspects further threatened the victim by claiming they could have his business forcibly closed if their demands would not be met.

According to the police, the victim secretly called for police assistance, which led to the arrest of the suspects.

Recovered from the suspects were the extortion money and fake media identification cards.

The investigators also found out that the suspects were the same people who were reporting false information to the police stations through text messages and the police E-Sumbong social media platform.

“This is a rising concern which we must address to halt the modus operandi of these persons who are patrolling around funfair business establishments to extort money in exchange for the continuity of the business operations,” Ison said.

The suspects were detained and would face criminal charges. INQ

RELATED STORY:

Journalists, bloggers tackle ‘fake news’, other forms of disinformation

JPV/abc