Cop in Bulacan kidnap hunted; 4 others nabbed

The Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency are jointly hunting down a police officer implicated in the foiled kidnapping of a Muslim trader in Bulacan last Holy Wednesday.

The subject of the manhunt is PO3 Manny Co, formerly detailed with PDEA-Central Luzon (Region 3) and now on floating status. He managed to escape when four other police officers implicated in the kidnapping for ransom of trader Hadji Akmad Manan were arrested.

Now in police custody are SPO3 Rolando Navarette, PO2s Virgilio del Rosario and Enrique Areja, and PO1 Joemar Julian, all belonging to the Drug Enforcement Unit in San Jose del Monte City. They were nabbed in a raid in Barangay Parada.

Records showed the suspects, who introduced themselves as PDEA agents, abducted Manan in Meycauayan, Bulacan last week.

The suspects contacted Manan’s relatives and initially demanded P700,000 for his release. Unknown to them, Manan’s wife Juhaira sought the help of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, which promptly laid out an entrapment.

Manan was eventually rescued and the four lawmen arrested, yielding P295,000, three caliber 9-mm pistols, a caliber .45 pistol, four PNP ID cards, a brick of marijuana, an undetermined amount of shabu, and six license plates.

PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. has ordered the immediate dismissal of the suspects from the police service, saying unscrupulous individuals like them have no place in the police organization.

“They are law enforcers and they cannot be law breakers,” Razon said in an interview with radio station dzBB.

For his part, Chief Superintendent Errol Pan, Central Luzon police director, said, “We have been religiously trying to gain back the glory of Mamang Pulis and Aleng Pulis and I will not let anybody under me or anything at all to ruin and spoil our efforts in doing so.”

PDEA director-general Dionisio Santiago lauded the CIDG for the arrest of the four suspects, saying his agency has relieved agents like Co due to their involvement in illegal activities.

Superintendent Derrick Carreon, PDEA spokesman, said that as early as Jan. 21, the PDEA had requested the PNP to recall Co, who had been linked to hulidap (arrest and extortion activities) and unauthorized release of individuals arrested for illegal drugs.

Carreon said a number of cases against erring policemen have been referred to the Internal Affairs Service, which investigates charges and handles dismissal proceedings against PNP personnel.

He said the PDEA cannot dismiss PNP personnel involved in the illegal drug trade. “The PDEA can only recommend the dismissal of a police officer and let the PNP handle the rest of the proceedings,” he said.

Carreon said the PNP, under Razon’s leadership, has been responsive to PDEA’s concerns on PNP personnel detailed to the agency.