Taxi passenger files extortion charges vs 2 Manila policemen

Two Manila policemen were charged Thursday with extortion after they allegedly demanded P1,000 from five taxi passengers whom the law enforcers  threatened to arrest on fabricated charges of overloading and vagrancy.

Senior Police Officer 2 Joseph Asucro and PO3 Rio Reyes, both assigned at the Manila Police District Mobile Patrol Unit (MPD-MPU), are now facing charges filed in the City Prosecutor’s Office.

Jherome Viana, 28, of Villamor Air Base, Pasay City,  said in his complaint that  he and four other companions were on a Caloocan City-bound cab when Asucro and Reyes, who were on patrol, flagged down the vehicle at around 2:36 a.m. on Wednesday along Road 10 in Tondo.

The taxi driver pulled over, alighted from the car, and talked with the policemen.

After a few minutes, the driver returned followed by Asucro and Reyes, who knocked on the window using their guns.

Viana said the policemen ordered them to present their bags for inspection, claiming that one of them was carrying a firearm.

When none of the taxi passengers yielded a handgun, the policemen asked for identification cards while inspecting Viana’s wallet.

When three of them were not able to produce IDs, the policemen allegedly threatened to arrest them for vagrancy and for overloading, since taxis are only allowed to take  four passengers.

Asucro and Reyes then allegedly offered to drop the charges if Viana “settled” with them with the money in his wallet.

Viana claimed that he offered to pay them P500 but Reyes refused the amount and allegedly said that the amount should be higher.

The policeman reportedly asked for P1,000, saying that there were three persons facing a vagrancy charge.

Viana paid the amount and they were promptly released by the MPD-MPU men.

The complainant immediately reported the incident to the MPD-General Assignment Section, which filed the criminal case against them.

The two policemen are also facing an administrative charge.