2 QC traffic cops, section chief relieved over ‘kotong’

Two members of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), along with their immediate superior, were relieved of their posts over allegations that they had been extorting money from motorists.

Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, the QCPD director, said SPO2 Raul Nadera and PO3 Antony Tecson of the motorcycle section of the District Traffic Enforcement Unit were to be reassigned to the District Headquarters Support Unit as they faced criminal and administrative charges.

SPO4 Rodentor Fajardo, the section chief, was also ordered removed based on command responsibility. Like his subordinates, Fajardo will undergo a pre-charge evaluation to determine his administrative liability.

Nadera and Tecson were caught on video allegedly extorting money from a motorist during an operation led by the Philippine National Police-Counter Intelligence Task Force around 1:50 p.m. on Tuesday along Payatas Road.

A text message to the PNP Infotxt Hotline complained about the alleged extortion activities of the two officers, who were also detailed to the anti-smoke belching unit of the Quezon City Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department (EPWMD).

Instead of just serving as backup to the department’s personnel, Nadera and Tecson allegedly flagged down motorists and asked them to pay P500 to P1,500 so they won’t be cited for a traffic violation or undergo the costlier smoke-belching test.