Manila cop faces extortion raps

Four Chinese tourists are accusing a Manila police official of extorting P150,000 in exchange for their release from jail.

Senior Inspector Edgar Reyes, chief of the investigation unit of the Manila Police District’s General Assignment Section (GAS), is now the subject of a criminal and administrative inquiry upon the orders of MPD director Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarzosa.

The inquiry is spearheaded by Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) chief Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo Jr.

Cho Ka, 26; Kwok Fung Mak, 29; Sam Lan, 24; and Zhing Yang Sun, 25, were arrested early morning of April 2 in front of the Golden Malate KTV in Malate for being drunk and damaging a scooter owned by Josebel Lucero, a waitress at the bar.

They said in a joint affidavit that an unidentified GAS policeman asked them P200,000 in exchange for their release. The policeman promised they would not face charges of malicious mischief and indirect assault and their offense would not be reported to the Bureau of Immigration.

The amount was later lowered to P150,000 which the Chinese alleged was given to a police officer inside the GAS office. They were also asked by the same policeman to sign in a police log book as proof that the case was settled.

The Chinese tourists’ allegations were supported by Ma. Lalaine Buenaventura, who acted as the group’s interpreter. She identified Reyes through a news photo that appeared on the front page of The STAR on March 31 as the police official who extorted P150,000 from the tourists.

Reyes allegedly demanded the money to pay for the damage to the complainant’s scooter and to pay off police officials and the members of the press, according to Buenaventura’s sworn statement.

The MPD Press Corps, through its president Francis Naguit, condemned Reyes’ alleged actions and denied that the press corps’ members received money from Reyes.

Pedrozo said an investigation is also being undertaken to determine whether GAS chief Superintendent Hospicio Guevarra is also involved in the extortion incident by way of command responsibility.