DENR aide, 3 others nabbed for extortion

MANILA, Philippines - An engineering aide of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and three of his alleged accomplices were arrested for reportedly extorting money from motorists in Valenzuela City over the weekend, police said yesterday.

Senior Police Officer 3 Jesus Sagisi said they filed charges of robbery extortion against Arnel Lopez, 47; Rudy Pangan, 59; Ismael Mateo, 34 and Romeo Bersano, 29.

Complainant Joimer Pulusan, 20, told police that Lopez and his cohorts accosted him in Barangay Dalandanan along MacArthur Highway for violating the smoke-belching law. Pulusan claimed that instead of issuing a violation ticket, Lopez allegedly asked for P400 in exchange for letting him go unmolested. He said he told his employer, Ramon Josue, about the incident after he was freed.

Another complainant, businesswoman Ligaya Paluribut, 50, also went to the police station and identified the suspects as the same ones who demanded P2,000 from her for the same violation.

Police said Lopez has been a DENR employee for the last 20 years and is facing dismissal from the service aside from jail time for the charges. Lopez told investigators his three “assistants” are not connected with or employed by the DENR.