Probers: Victims’ actions questionable

MANILA, Philippines - Eastern Police District (EPD) investigators looking into the EDSA “hulidap” incident are coming up with more questions than answers, insiders said yesterday.

Investigators noted the boldness of the policemen, headed by Chief Inspector Joseph de Vera, in staging the kidnapping and robbery last Sept. 1 and the inconsistencies in the statements of the complainants, Camal Mama and Samanodin Abdul Gafur, employees of a contractor based in Lanao del Sur.

An investigator, who requested anonymity, said De Vera and his companions staged the hit armed with a tip from an informant – allegedly a former girlfriend of one of the complainants – that the complainants were about to engage in a questionable business deal.

“The group of policemen is aware that Mama and Gafur are carrying P2 million and are out to stage an illegal transaction. De Vera’s group was armed with ‘inside’ information, that’s why they are bold enough to stage the operation using their respective vehicles,” the sources claimed.

The investigators said if the complainants’ claim – that they were here in Metro Manila to buy road construction equipment – was true, the policemen could not have brought them to the La Loma police station.

“De Vera and his group were confident that the two would not report the incident because it would unmask their illegal business. They are only after the money,” the sources said.

Mama and Gafur were reportedly detained at the police station for at least seven hours while their captors took their personal money and emptied their automated teller machine accounts, aside from taking the P2 million.

The insiders said the victims only appeared before EPD investigators, accompanied by a lawyer, last Saturday, several hours before De Vera was arrested.

“If your hard-earned money is taken from you, your first impulse is to report the incident to the police – maybe for insurance purposes or for the possibility that the suspects would be arrested and the money recovered,’ the sources claimed. “Maybe, they are afraid that the police would question them where the money came from.”

When De Vera was presented before the media at Camp Crame Monday, both Mama and Gafur appeared as witnesses but with their faces covered by masks.

National Capital Region Police Office  chief Director Carmelo Valmoria said yesterday that all data regarding the incident is being gathered by the Mandaluyong City police, including the possible involvement of Mama and Gafur in illegal activities.

“All angles will be looked into. But as of now, we are concentrating our efforts to have all policemen involved in the incident accounted for,” he said. – Non Alquitran, Cecille Suerte Felipe