Peer testifies against Ovilla in bribe case

Former Anonas police chief Superintendent Francisco Ovilla attempted to cover up the arrest and the subsequent release of two suspected drug traffickers who allegedly bribed their way to freedom.

A ranking Quezon City police official said this yesterday as he testified before the court on the controversial bribery case. Superintendent Napoleon Castro, chief of the Central Police District-Criminal Investigation Unit, said he asked Ovilla about the arrest of suspected drug lords Jimmy Tan and Albert Koo at the SM City mall in August last year but the Anonas station chief denied that an arrest was made.

"I asked him (Ovilla) to file a report about the incident even if it was already late, promising to help him sort things out," said Castro, who was tasked to investigate the bribery case. "He, however, denied that it happened."

Ovilla and 11 of his men were charged for allegedly releasing the two Chinese nationals in exchange for a P650,000 bribe. Last week, the Ombudsman found Ovilla and seven of the 11 administratively liable for graft and recommended that they be dismissed from the service.

In yesterday's hearing on the case, two of Ovilla's former men -- SPO2 Reynaldo Ressureccion and PO3 Wilfredo Gonzales -- testified that the Chinese nationals were found to be carrying some 1.5 kilos when they were arrested.

Castro, on the other hand, said he confirmed the arrest of the drug suspects and their subsequent release from Ressureccion and Gonzales as well as civilian Esther Ulpindo who was earlier arrested by Ovilla's men also for drug trafficking. He said Ulpindo even came up with a statement insisting that the Chinese nationals were arrested and released.

Castro noted that when he learned about the release, he told it to Quezon City Mayor Ismael Mathay who approved his recommendation to relieve Ovilla and his men so the investigation could proceed.

But he said that before he submitted the result of his investigation, Ovilla's men came to him asking to be cleared from the case.