Fire officer in hot water for extortion

An officer of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) was arrested Thursday after he allegedly demanded P20,000 from a contractor in exchange for the release of a fire safety certificate.

Seized from building inspector FO2 Jimmy Moralit, 33, was P10,000 in marked bills given to him by the contractor, Elias Santos.

Earlier, Santos said he paid P3,000 for a fire safety certificate. But when his son went to the Masambong police station in Quezon City—where Moralit was assigned—to get the document, the BFP officer asked him for an additional P20,000.

Santos said that after his son relayed Moralit’s demand to him, he asked for help from the Talipapa police station whose members set up an entrapment operation.

Santos then set up a meeting with the BFP officer at a canteen in Barangay (village) Bahay del Toro at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

Moralit was immediately arrested by operatives PO1 Ronald Adona and PO3 Bien Abak after he received the P10,000 from Santos.