5 cops face raps for robbing German tourist to buy laptops

MANILA, Philippines -  The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) filed charges yesterday against five Makati City policemen for “shaking down” a German tourist by making him buy six laptops worth P.2 million last Jan. 29.

Senior Police Officer 4 Roland Bagaon, PO2 Romel Salcedo, PO3 Renato Esperansante, PO1 Jason Guinting and PO1 Rene Ruga were charged with robbery through intimidation before the Makati prosecutor’s office and face summary dismissal proceedings, NCRPO chief Director Nicanor Bartolome said.

He ordered the five policemen disarmed and placed them under “restrictive custody” at the Southern Police District to prevent them from influencing the investigation of their case. Two of the policemen are from Makati Police Station 9, two are from Station 6, and one is from the Makati police’s operations unit.

Makati police chief Senior Superintendent Froilan Bonifacio has ordered a revamp of the Makati Police Station 9, which oversees the city’s tourist hub in Barangay Poblacion, and transferred the station commander, Chief Inspector Mario Ignacio, to the Makati police’s administration holding unit.

Ignacio was replaced as Station 9 commander by Chief Inspector Aldrin Gran, formerly the commander of Police Station 8, located in Barangay Comembo. Gran was replaced as Station 8 commander by his deputy, Inspector Jose Dioquino.

Bonifacio also ordered that Station 9 police personnel be swapped with those from Station 8.

He also wants to find out whether other personnel were involved in robbing German tourist Daniel Ludwig, who told the German embassy about his ordeal the next day.

According to a German embassy report, the policemen and a man in civilian clothes accosted Ludwig at past noon near the A. Venue Mall along Makati Avenue on Jan. 29. They accused Ludwig of buying counterfeit products from street hawkers, then accused him of buying drugs when he denied the first allegation.

Ludwig asked that he be made to contact the German embassy, but the policemen reportedly denied his request and threatened to send him to jail for allegedly supporting terrorism.

The policemen, the report said, then allegedly told Ludwig to prove that he is not a terrorist by buying their police station laptop computers. They then allegedly forced Ludwig into a marked police car and drove him to the nearby Powerplant Mall.

After getting the laptops, the policemen then set Ludwig free and warned him to be quiet about the incident or else he will be shot. Last Feb. 1, the victim sought the help of the German embassy, which then approached the Makati police on Feb. 2.