'Hulidap' of Bilibid visitors rampant

MANILA, Philippines - There have been at least 25 cases of “hulidap” in which visitors to the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) are the victims, according to a document obtained by The STAR.

A text message sent to the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) “Subukan Niyo Po Kami” hotline on March 7 accused policemen as perpetrators of the crime and started an investigation at the Southern Police District, which has jurisdiction over crimes committed at the state penitentiary. 

“There are many cases of hulidap at the NBP and our fellow police officers are said to be the perpetrators,” said Superintendent Jenny Tecson, spokesperson of SPD, as she summarized the text message. 

The SPD started verifying the information and found out that there were more than 10 hulidap cases recorded at the NBP. Two days after they received the message on March 7, a girlfriend of a convicted drug dealer was abducted again.

“The abduction of Amina Mangondato-Tion was forwarded to us and we immediately acted on it to catch the suspects,” Tecson said.

‘Milking cow’

The term hulidap stems from the Filipino word huli (caught) and holdup. It is a police term that refers to the act of a lawman kidnapping a person, then threatening to charge or detain the person in order to extort money.

A document obtained by The STAR showed that more than 25 hulidap cases have been reported in the NBP. Twelve of the kidnappings happened in Muntinlupa City – three of them in the NBP reservation, while two cases happened at residential areas near the NBP.

According to the document, 14 of the incidents happened from 2006 to March 2012, while eight cases were without dates because the prisoner-complainants have already been released.

The document stated that 11 of the cases happened in 2011 alone, particularly during the “ber” months.

A source, who requested anonymity, said the victim is usually kidnapped after visiting the NBP. According to the document, all of the victims are female visitors or wives of the convicts. Twelve of the victims are relatives of persons convicted on drug charges while the rest are visitors of those convicted for carjacking, robbery, or kidnapping.

Senior Superintendent Rolando Asuncion, chief of the SPD’s directorial staff, said the relatives of drug convicts “are made into milking cows. The ones who do this are erring law enforcers.”

A source said it is difficult to gather information because no one wants to cooperate. “Where can you go if the police officers are the ones doing this to you?” the source said.

‘Suki’ system

Based on the document, there were only 19 prisoner-complainants. The cases, however, jumped to 25 because five of the victims were kidnapped twice, while one prisoner-complainant has two relatives abducted on different dates.

“They become suki (or frequent customers) because they gave money the first time they were kidnapped. Now, they will be repeatedly kidnapped, but by other groups,” a second source told The STAR.

The source said that based on the information they have gathered “there were several groups of policemen operating in the area.”

The cases came to light when Tion was rescued by the SPD hours after she was abducted, for the second time, in her Muntinlupa house on March 9. NCRPO policemen Senior Inspector Aurelio Domingo, Police Officer 3 Ruel Cubian, PO2 Ernie Reyes Jr., and PO1 Rajemie Cayabyab and their alleged “bagman,” Lemuel Fuson, were charged with kidnapping with serious illegal detention. 

She identified them through a set of pictures given to the SPD that showed the policemen dragging Tion from her house into a black Toyota Fortuner with no license plate. The picture was forwarded to the SPD by a concerned citizen.

“This is the first and only time that a hulidap case in NBP was successfully resolved through an entrapment operation the same day the victim was abducted,” the first penitentiary source said.

A third source described the ransom extorted as “small but easy money.” The source said the kidnappers demand millions of pesos but agree to lower the ransom to as little as P100,000. “What is important is they receive some money,” the source said.

The first source said they do not exactly know how the kidnappers pick the victims although he suspects they have “spotters” in the NBP.

“Some victims said their kidnappers actually tell them who in the NBP can lend them money. How would the kidnappers know this if they don’t have contacts in prison?” the source said.

Of the 25 cases, only three were prosecuted. These are the two abduction cases of Tion and that of Melanie Dokilman, wife of convicted kidnapper Edwin Dokilman.

In Dokilman’s case, members of the Manila Police District are suspects, while an informant of the National Bureau of Investigation is a suspect in Tion’s first kidnapping.

Asuncion said they already have suspects and are asking those who have been kidnapped to file charges.