If only they took their victim’s “threat” more seriously instead of thinking that he was just name-dropping Chief Supt. Theodore Ruben Sindac, spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
PO1s Roland Mansibang and Ronaldo Englis of the Quezon City police ended up being detained by their fellow lawmen Tuesday night after Sindac personally came to the rescue of the motorist they were allegedly extorting money from.
Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Chief Supt. Richard Albano said the two policemen from the Galas police station faced possible dismissal from the service on top of the extortion charges filed against them in the city prosecutor’s office.
The duo’s troubles started at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when they accosted a couple inside a car parked on 8th Street in Barangay Mariana, New Manila.
Little did they know that the driver, 22-year-old Rodolfo Eduardo Santiago, was the classmate of Sindac’s son.
Santiago told the police that he and his girlfriend were seated in his car when two policemen, later identified as Mansibang and Englis, knocked on a window and shone flashlights on them.
After being ordered to get out of his vehicle and present his driver’s license, Santiago said Mansibang threatened to charge him and his companion with public scandal for which the fine was P20,000.
“I asked him [Mansibang] what we should do next and he replied that if we wanted to avoid any public spectacle and attract media attention, we should just pay the fine,” he added.
Calling for rescue
Santiago said that it was at this point that he started to call the PNP spokesperson. But he added that when he told Mansibang that he had just talked to Sindac, the policeman ignored him and instructed him and his girlfriend to come with him to Greenhills Town Center on Granada Street in Barangay Valencia where they were met by several other policemen.
As they were in the area, Sindac arrived with members of Santiago’s family in tow. The PNP official spoke to Mansibang, Englis and the other policemen and ordered them to report to the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU).
At the same time, he asked Albano to order an investigation into the incident and initiate dismissal proceedings against the lawmen involved.
Albano, meanwhile, said that Mansibang and Englis had been disarmed, relieved of their badges and police IDs and taken into custody by the QCPD-CIDU. He added that he had also ordered the other policemen to undergo an investigation. With Andrea Ocampo