Makati fiscal nabbed for extortion

MANILA, Philippines - A Makati city fiscal was arrested and charged before the Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday night for allegedly extorting P10,000 from a litigant for the speedy resolution of a traffic-related complaint.

Assistant City Prosecutor Rocky Caponong was brought to the DOJ office in Manila for inquest proceedings at around 7 p.m., hours after he was arrested by operatives of Philippine National Police (PNP) Intelligence Group in his office at the Makati City Hall in an entrapment operation.

Caponong was supposedly caught in the act of accepting marked money from Herminio Sablawan Jr. “in connection with a pending case filed against a bus driver” before his office, according to the complaint filed by the police.

He was handcuffed, assisted by lawyer Brandy Marzan, when he was brought to the DOJ. He was charged with violating Article 294 of Revised Penal Code and Republic Act 3019. Police submitted as evidence P5,000 in marked money, a video of the operation and Sablawan’s sworn statement.

Prosecutor General Claro Arellano endorsed the investigation of the complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday as part of an agreement between the two agencies, which provided that cases involving public officials with salary grade of 27 and above should be exclusively handled by the anti-graft office.

Caponong remains detained at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City pending the Ombudsman’s resolution of the complaint.