BY: TONY ANTONIO
There may be snakes in every forest, but the “snakes” in police departments in the Philippines are markedly different from erring cops here in the U.S.
While rogue U.S. law-enforcement officers are often accused of being racist (like the George Floyd case), the common complaints against Filipino policemen are mostly about corruption, extortion or robbery.
A recent Philippine Supreme Court (SC) decision on the case of two Manila police officers is one example.
The SC has upheld the conviction of the two policemen who were sentenced to a maximum of eight years in jail for robbery through extortion.
The tribunal’s Second Division denied the petitions for review filed by then Police Officer 2 (PO2) Ireneo Sosas Jr. and Senior Police Officer 3 (SPO3) Ariel Salvador.
The complainant was Janith Arbuez, a salesperson at a used mobile phones shop in the Isetann mall on Recto Ave., Manila.
The two cops succeeded in their bid to extort money. And had it not been for an additional, unusual demand, the two would have avoided being sued. The unusual demand: Abuez would become Sosas’s sweetheart.
On Nov. 10, 2010, Sosas escorted Abuez from the shop to the mall’s administrative office to report that she had sold stolen items. Later, Sosas and Salvador brought her to the police station. In a room, Sosas proposed that no criminal complaint for violation of the Anti-Fencing Law would be filed against her if she gives the officers P20,000.
When Arbuez negotiated for a lower amount, Sosas agreed but on the condition they become “sweethearts.” Arbuez refused, and called her sister-in-law to bring the money to the station.
After 18 hours in detention, Arbuez was released following Sosas’s receipt of the money.
The SC said as police officers, the two were tasked to “implement the law. Hence, they could not demand and eventually receive any amount from private persons as a consideration for them not to pursue the case against them. Under such circumstances, the eventual receipt of the money by Sosas and Salvador makes the taking unlawful,” the court said.
“They are law-enforcement agents while Arbuez is an ordinary citizen. The incident transpired at the police station when Arbuez was already placed under their custody. Given these circumstances, the threats of continued deprivation of liberty, and the possibility of criminal prosecution, it is easy to conclude that Sosas and Salvador intimidated Arbuez into giving them the money. They are, therefore, guilty of robbery,” the court ruled.
There are many Filipino cops who are as crooked as Sosas and Salvador. I know this for a fact because I was a police reporter in the early years of my journalism career. For five years, my beat was the Manila and Quezon City police departments.
At one time while I and two other reporters were in the QC police station, a policeman friend asked if we had already eaten lunch. When we said “not yet,” he offered to bring us to a restaurant in Cubao. We rode in his jeep, but before we proceeded to Cubao, he realized he had no money.
Driving on Kamuning Road, he stopped in front of a Catholic chapel. He went inside the chapel. After about 10 minutes, he came out and told us he had money for lunch. I suspected he might have borrowed the money from a friend he talked to in the chapel.
After eating, we told him that we would refund the money he had spent. In a cavalier way, he said, “Don’t bother.” When we insisted that we would pay him, he related how he got the money.
The money was given to him by a priest in the chapel. He then related that how he came to know the priest: He was conducting patrol in the Quezon Memorial Circle when he noticed a man and a woman necking at a dark area. He confronted the two and threatened to bring them to the police station, saying they were doing lascivious acts.
The man pleaded to him not to bring them to the station, telling him he is a priest and a police record against him would ruin his religious vocation. He offered money as bribe. At that time though, the priest had only P200. He promised that anytime he (the policeman) is short of money, he could visit him in the chapel.
As I had said, this is just one example of how erring Filipino cops operatey. I have more stories about police shenanigans, but I would tell them on another day.
Lest I’m misunderstood, I have to say that there are also many competent, honest, incorruptible Filipino policemen.******