NBI arrests 3 cops in TMG entrapment

A police inspector, two senior officers and two employees of the Traffic Management Group (TMG) have been arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after they were allegedly caught in the act of accepting bribe money during an entrapment operation in Pasay City.

NBI Acting Director Nestor Mantaring identified the suspects as Police Inspector Celestino Roldan, Senior Police Officer 4 Arteso Tacata, SPO1 Tiburcio Grave and civilians Joey Aloag, and Fidelino Loreto, all assigned with the TMG South Motor Vehicle Clearance Office on Domestic Road, Pasay City.

Mantaring said charges of violation of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Direct Bribery under the Revised Penal Code (RPC) were lodged against the five suspects before the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office.

Based on a post-operation report submitted by Special Investigator IV Rizaldy Rivera, of the NBI-Background Investigation Division (BID), they set up the entrapment operation after complainant Arnold Nicart, a driver, sought their assistance.

Nicart, along with two witnesses, said the TMG men have been engaged in corrupt practices at the clearance office.

Several NBI units conducted the operation at 5:30 p.m. last Thursday in coordination with the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), led by Police Superintendent Leo Estavillo Quevedo and CIDG-National Capital Region (NCR) represented by Superintendent Elmer Soria.

The NBI said they caught the suspects in the act of receiving from an asset P1,000 in exchange for clearance of a vehicle. The entrapment was witnessed by a crew from television network GMA-7.

The surveillance operation and covert investigation revealed that a vehicle owner could be spared from the stencil procedure during vehicle registration and still get a TMG Motor Vehicle Clearance Certificate for a certain amount.

"This scheme is referred to at the TMG office as ‘non appearance’ and in consideration thereof, personnel demand and receive P1,000 to P1,500 per vehicle from applicants," the NBI said in its report.