2 Edsa ‘hulidap’ cops stuck in jail they fear most

By: Jeannette I. Andrade - 10 years ago

Inspector Joseph De Vera, one of the suspects in the Edsa abduction-robbery, is presented to media by police officials during a press conference at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame. LYN RILLON/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Two of the policemen accused of taking part in the Sept. 1 Edsa “hulidap’’ incident failed in their bid to be transferred from a local jail which they said is holding crime suspects they themselves once hunted.

A Mandaluyong City judge on Wednesday denied the request of Chief Insp. Joseph de Vera and PO2 Jonathan Rodriguez to be moved from the city jail to the Philippine National Police custodial center.

With the ruling, Judge Carlos Valenzuela of Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 213 reset De Vera and Rodriguez’ arraignment to Nov. 12.

According to clerk of court Homer Penada, the judge cited a Supreme Court circular prohibiting further transfers of detainees from the city, municipal or provincial jails to the custodial center inside Camp Crame, the PNP general headquarters in Quezon City.

The circular was issued in 2010 at the request of the PNP, which then cited the problem of overcrowding at the facility, Penada said. “The center is already overpopulated,” he said in an Inquirer interview.

In their request, De Vera and Rodriguez said they feared for their own safety inside the Mandaluyong City jail, claiming they were responsible for the detention of some inmates there.

The two policemen, both previously assigned to the Quezon City Police District, are charged with robbery in band and kidnapping with serious illegal detention in connection with the Edsa incident.

The preliminary investigation of eight other suspects—six more policemen and two former officers—is still pending in the city prosecutor’s office.

They allegedly abducted Samanodin Abdul Gafur and Camal Mama—two employees of a Marawi City-based contractor—on Edsa’s southbound lane in Barangay Wack-Wack, Mandaluyong. After taking the P2-million cash that the victims were carrying, the suspects also forced them to withdraw P100,000 from automated teller machines, according to the complaint.

Carried out in broad daylight, the abduction became high on the PNP radar after it was photographed by a motorist. The photo later went viral and was mainly credited for the priority given to the case and the eventual arrest of the suspects.