4 women nabbed for extort try on soldier

MANILA, Philippines - Four women, including a Navy petty officer, were arrested in Quezon City yesterday for allegedly demanding P50,000 from a soldier in return for not filing sexual harassment charges against him.

Superintendent Lino Banaag, Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) chief, identified the suspects as Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Girlieta Pacamarra, 41, a resident of a condominium building at the AFP Medical Center Compound; massage therapist Jasmin Gobaton, 43; and manicurists May-ann Dumlao, 20, and Fe Alberto, 43.

Army Technical Sergeant Alberto Jimenez, 42, who resides in the same compound as Pacamarra, filed a complaint before the CIDU for robbery-extortion against the four women.

Police Officer 2 Jose Roland Belgica said that last month, Gobaton, Dumlao and Alberto accused Jimenez of sexual harassment and threatened to file a case against him.

Belgica said Pacamarra, who was also manager of the Enlisted Personnel (EP) Clubhouse at the hospital compound where the three other suspects worked, allegedly instructed them to ask Jimenez to cough up P50,000 in exchange for not filing the charges.

Jimenez agreed to the suspects’ proposal and set the time and place for the payoff. Police officers arrested Gobaton and Pacamarra when they received marked money from Jimenez. The two women later tested positive for ultraviolet powder.

At the CIDU holding cell, the women denied Jimenez’s allegations.