Suspect vanishes after arrest

Two Manila policemen and a barangay officer face criminal and administrative charges following the disappearance of  Ernesto Cortez, a suspect whom they had arrested for estafa.

A report of the Manila Police District General Assignment Unit identified the two policemen as Police Officer 3 Jessie Villanueva and PO2 Frederick Pastor and the barangay officer as Joel Amores of Biak na Bato, Tondo.

The charges were based on a complaint filed by Juanito Tan, a businessman from Binondo, Manila.

Tan said that on July 24, the three arrested Cortez based on a case he filed against the latter.

He added that Cortez was brought to the Manila Police District headquarters on United Nations Avenue in Manila although when he checked the following day, the suspect was no longer there.

Tan claimed that immediately after Cortez was arrested, Amores urged him to drop the case against the suspect and just let him go, a request he turned down. Nancy C. Carvajal