Charges of robbery-extortion and serious illegal detention have been filed against two Quezon City policemen after they held a man against his will for nearly an hour and then took the P40,000 he had borrowed from his employer for his wife’s treatment.
PO2 Martin Alcarde and PO1 Wendell Verano—both assigned to the Masambong police station’s Mobile Patrol Task Force North Triangle—have yet to give their side after the case against them was filed by Emmanuel Valencia in the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on June 30.
The two have also yet to show up for work since the alleged robbery-extortion and serious illegal detention incident on June 25, leading to their being declared absent without official leave.
According to Valencia’s affidavit, he was walking on Mindanao Avenue around 1:30 a.m. on June 25 with a backpack containing the P40,000 he had borrowed from his employer for his wife’s treatment for appendicitis when he was stopped and questioned by two policemen in a patrol car.
He said that when the suspects ordered him to get into their vehicle, he did so out of fear.
While in the backseat of the vehicle, Valencia claimed he was handcuffed and frisked as the policemen threatened to file charges against him. One of them then found the money inside his backpack and started asking him questions about it.
Valencia, however, said he did not speak because he was afraid. “I decided to wait for them to bring me to the police station so I can explain my side,” he added in his affidavit.
But instead of taking him to the police station, the suspects drove around for nearly an hour as they threatened to kill him. At one point, Valencia saw the policeman who found the money in his backpack take it while pointing a gun at him.
He added that the policeman driving the patrol car also made threatening comments such as, “Just leave him to me, buddy. Let’s just kill him.”
Eventually, the suspects let him out of their vehicle in front of the National Printing Office on Edsa, Quezon City, after warning him that they would shoot him should he look back.
Later that afternoon, Valencia filed a complaint in the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU).
After being shown the pictures of the mobile policemen assigned to the area, Valencia identified Verano as the one who took his money and Alcarde as the driver. A check of their background showed that Alcarde joined the police service in 2008 and Verano in 2010.
That same day, the policemen were asked by QCPD-CIDU head Chief Insp. Rodelio Marcelo to answer the complaint against them but they never did. They also failed to report for work in the following days.
Sought for comment on Wednesday, QCPD spokesperson Senior Insp. Maricar Taqueban said, “We will not tolerate rogues in our ranks. It’s good that these incidents are reported so we can clean [up our] ranks.”
“The [two] policemen are urged to voluntarily surrender to explain their side,” she added.
The complaint against the suspects has also been forwarded to the QPCD Investigation and Detective Management Division for the possible filing of administrative cases against them.