Pasay police old-timer falls for extortion

For a mere P250, a deputy commander of a Pasay City police precinct placed his 20-year career in jeopardy and was arrested Thursday night for extortion during an entrapment by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Inspector Evelino Bactad, 51, with two of his men, Senior Police Officers 2 Santiago Mendoza and Vitus Pomida were accused by tricycle drivers at the Pasay City public market of demanding money from them after confiscating their licenses. Bactad was newly-assigned to that police precinct. He vehemently denied the charges.

The drivers said the trio went as far as seizing their motorcycle seats to force them to cough up the money.

Based on the investigation of the NBI Anti-Organized Crime Division (AOCD) under lawyer Samuel Fiji, on the night of Jan. 18, the suspects began confiscating the licenses of the tricycle drivers purportedly for traffic violations. The three then reportedly implied that the licenses could be redeemed for at least P100 each.

Three of the drivers, however, filed a complaint at the office of Pasay City Criminal Investigation Division (CID) chief Rodolfo Llorca, who referred the case to the NBI on Jan. 25.

On Thursday night, two of the complainants pretended to pay the demanded amount in exchange for their licenses, using marked money.

The NBI arrested Bactad inside the Pasay City public market precinct as soon as the complainants gave the signal that the deal had been consummated. --