Woman collared for posing as Napolcom staff

MANILA, Philippines - A woman was arrested in Quezon City Monday night for posing as an employee of the National Police Commission while promising police recruits a sure shot in their entrance exams in exchange for cash.

Suspect Lilia Ladyaalam, 52, was arrested by operatives of the Quezon City Police District in an entrapment during which a complainant gave her the partial payment for the woman’s son’s qualifying exams to enter the police force.

Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo Jr., head of the QCPD’s District Police Intelligence Operating Unit, said Ladyalaam is facing charges of robbery extortion and usurpation of authority. “We verified with the Napolcom and we found out that the suspect is not working there. Not only has she misrepresented herself, she has done something illegal in pretending she could facilitate the entry of police recruits in the PNP,” Pedrozo told The STAR in an interview. According to Pedrozo, the woman pretended she could make a police recruit pass the exams in exchange for P25,000.

“And even if she was working at the Napolcom, she cannot facilitate such transaction. That’s illegal. Had we found out that she was with the Commission, we would have filed a complaint with the Napolcom against her,” Pedrozo said.

This arrest came as the first phase of the eligibility examinations for police officers which will be administered by Napolcom on Aug. 30. The Police Executive Service Eligibility exams would determine if a police officer is qualified to move up to the higher rank. This exam is required for PNP officers with the rank of police senior superintendent up to director-general.

The 41-year-old complainant from Valenzuela talked to The STAR yesterday morning on condition of anonymity and said she started contacting the suspect earlier in the month.

She said she has a 23-year-old son who has a criminology degree and is scheduled to take the PNP entrance examination in October. “She (suspect) was referred to me by another person and asked for P25,000 in exchange for my son’s sure passing in the exam,” the complainant told The STAR.

“The suspect claimed that my son would only have to take the exam for formality and that she would be the one to have him pass,” the complainant said. The complainant became suspicious of the woman she was transacting with and sought the assistance of the police on Monday morning.

Operatives of the QCPD-DPIOU arranged the entrapment at a restaurant along Congressional Avenue near corner Edsa that evening. During the entrapment, the suspect was caught redhanded after she accepted 10 marked pieces of P1,000 bills.

According to Pedrozo, they were inviting others who may have also been victimized by the suspect.