4 cops charged for kidnap of drug dealer's girlfriend

MANILA, Philippines - Four police officers from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) were criminally charged for allegedly kidnapping the girlfriend of a convicted drug dealer in Muntinlupa City two weeks ago, an official said yesterday.

The Southern Police District (SPD) said Senior Inspector Aurelio Domingo, Police Officer 3 Ruel Cubian, PO2 Ernie Reyes Jr., and PO1 Rajemie Cayabyab of the NCRPO regional police intelligence and operations unit were charged with kidnapping with serious illegal detention before the Muntinlupa prosecutor’s office Thursday for allegedly kidnapping Amina Mangondatu-Tion, girlfriend of Romeo Tan, who is detained at the New Bilibid Prison.

“They were ordered relieved and were placed under restrictive custody by (NCRPO chief Director) Alan Purisima,” said SPD officer-in-charge Senior Superintendent Arazzad Subong. “We will not tolerate this criminal behavior.”

Tion was abducted in her Muntinlupa house about 11 a.m. on March 9. In her sworn affidavit, she told SPD the men “forcibly took her from inside her bedroom until she was almost undressed.”

The men allegedly showed her an arrest warrant, which she refuted.The policemen then demanded money for her release.

“The initial amount was P3 million until they were able to lower it to P500,000,” said Senior Superintendent Rolando Asuncion, chief of SPD’s directorial staff.

Asuncion, together with district intelligence head Chief Inspector Antonio Guanzon, crafted the plan, which Subong approved, to trap the suspects. However, only their emissary, Lemuel Fuson (not Puson as earlier reported) was caught when Tion’s sister and undercover SPD police officers met with him at around 3:30 a.m. on March 10.

His alleged accomplices dumped Tion after learning that the ransom was already in Fuson’s hands. The P500,000 was recovered but Tion’s jewelry was not.

Police said they have copies of photographs taken while the suspects were dragging Tion from her house into a black Toyota Fortuner with no license plate. The photos show five policemen but Tion only identified four. She said Domingo was present during the kidnapping, that Cayabyab and Reyes grabbed her, while Cubian took her jewelry and iPhone 4S.