Raps filed vs 3 rogue cops

Formal charges have been filed against three policemen who were arrested by their fellow officers for the abduction of a Chinese businessman at noon last Friday in Valenzuela City.

Superintendent Billy Beltran, Valenzuela City police chief, said charges of kidnapping, robbery and car theft have been filed against PO2 Reynaldo Turla, PO2 Godofredo Animos and PO1 Rodrigo Gadia with the Valenzuela City prosecutor’s office the other day.

The accused are all detailed at the Northern Police District (NPD) headquarters on Tanigue street in Kaunlaran Village, Dagat-Dagatan, Caloocan City.

At around noon last Friday, at least five armed men barged inside the office of RD Metal Craft at 188 Calle Onse in Barangay Parada in Valenzuela City.

The armed men introduced themselves as police officers and ordered the employees to stay put as they dragged owner Allan Ang and workers Roger Navarro, Leonardo Bravo and Danilo Bravo into a Mitsubishi L-300 van.

The suspects brought Ang to a bank in Paso de Blas, where they ordered him to withdraw cash from the ATM.

Beltran, who was informed of the presence of a suspicious vehicle in front of a bank, led a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to intercept the suspects.

Three of the suspects, who turned out to be police officers, were arrested, but two others, were able to flee.

Meanwhile, NPD director Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil has met with Chinese traders in Valenzuela City and assured them that his command would double their effort to protect them from criminal elements.

Bataoil also assured the businessman and the northern Metro residents that the purging of police scalawags within his command "would continue without let-up."

Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, on the other hand, commended the local police "for enforcing the law without fear or favor."