Surigao prosecutor arrested for extortion

BUTUAN CITY — A prosecutor assigned in Lianga, Surigao del Sur who had been extorting from a businesswoman since last year was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in an entrapment operation here yesterday morning.

Fiscal Teofilo Manuel, detailed with the Regional Trial Court Branch 20 in Lianga, some 150 kilometers away from this city, was collared after receiving P6,000 in marked bills from businesswoman Remedios Malabuco in a fastfood outlet, said Lauro Reyes, NBI-Caraga regional director.

NBI deputy director for operations Reynaldo Esmeralda, who used to head the NBI-Caraga office, gave the go-signal for the entrapment operation after Malabuco sought the bureau’s assistance.

"We are at the forefront of President Arroyo’s drive to eradicate corruption in the government," Esmeralda told The STAR in a mobile phone interview.

Malabuco said Manuel had demanded money from her since she sought his help in an estafa case pending before the prosecutor’s office. She filed the estafa case against a resident of Marihatag town in 2005.

"I opted to seek legal help from the fiscal’s office since lawyers in the region were asking for high professional fees which I could not afford," she said.

Malabuco said Manuel demanded P2,500 from her sometime last year after she sought a speedy resolution of her case.

She claimed that the fiscal subsequently asked for a plane ticket to Cebu City. But because her business was not doing well, she said she gave him P1,000 instead of the plane ticket which cost more than P2,000.

Last Tuesday, Malabuco said she followed up her case but Manuel demanded money again, prompting her to seek the help of NBI-Caraga which promptly planned the entrapment operation.

Reyes admitted that this was not the first time that his office had received complaints against prosecutors — and even judges — demanding money from litigants.