PNP chief tells extortionist Manila cops to surrender

Gen. Benjamin Acorda, the PNP chief, at a press briefing held in Camp Crame. (File photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr., chief of the Philippine National Police, urged the five police officers who robbed a computer shop owner in Sampaloc, Manila, to surrender as he ordered elite police units to join in the manhunt against them.

PNP Chief Acorda identified the police officers as Staff Sergeants Ryann Paculan and Jan Erwin Isaac; Cpl. Jonmark Dabucol; and Patrolmen Jeremiah Pascual and John Lester Paga—all members of the Manila Police District-District Intelligence Operations Unit (MPD-DIOU).

A civilian asset identified as “Menay Martinez” was also found in cahoots with the five police officers.

“We are doing our best just to show to our fellow Filipinos that we are not condoning any kind of this act and we will be running after them,” he told reporters on Friday.

According to the MPD, the five police officers, all in plainclothes, broke into the computer shop owned by Herminigildo Mateo, 73, near the corner of Matimyas and Susan Streets in Sampaloc district, around 11 p.m. on Wednesday.

According to Mateo, they accused him of running an illegal online gambling business. The police officers emptied the shop’s cash register of P40,000 and also demanded a weekly “protection fee” of P4,000 or he would be arrested.

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—DEXTER CABALZA