2 Isabela trial court staff arrested for extortion

CITY OF ILAGAN – Two employees of the Isabela Regional Trial Court Branch 18 were caught receiving money from a litigant during a May 7 entrapment operation in Alibagu village here, a belated police report showed.

Court clerk Marlyn Garo and court stenographer Rubiminda Diamante had allegedly demanded P15,000 from the mother of a man convicted in March for domestic violence in exchange for facilitating his application for probation, according to Ilagan police chief Supt. Rafael Pagalilauan.

Judge Rodolfo Dizon notified the police after learning about the extortion attempt.

The convict’s mother, Remedios Domingo, was unaware Dizon had approved her son’s probation, police said.

But the court workers claimed they were being framed.  /kga