THE NATIONAL Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) ordered Friday the relief of the Las Piñas City Police chief and its 36-man anti-drug unit after four of them were accused of robbery-extortion by a relative of a drug suspect they earlier apprehended.
NCRPO Director Guillermo Eleazar relieved Senior Superintendent Marion Balonglong, chief of Las Piñas Police Station, over command responsibility.
Also relieved were Senior Inspector Edgardo Tigbao, chief of Las Piñas police’s Station Drug Enforcement Unit (SDEU), and all its personnel.
The relief stemmed from the arrest of a 13-year-old boy who was allegedly used by four Las Pinas anti-drug cops to collect a P200,000 “bail” money from alias Shel, sister of Cyrus who was earlier arrested for alleged possession of marijuana. (Names of complainants have been changed for their security.)
The 13-year-old boy was apprehended in an entrapment operation by joint elements of Las Piñas City Police, Parañaque City Police and Silang, Cavite Municipal Police on Wednesday night on Quirino Avenue corner Victor Medina Street in Parañaque City.
According to Eleazar, the boy later confessed that he was ordered by PO3 Joel Lupig, PO2 Vener Guanlao, PO1 Jefferson Fulgencio and PO1 Jeffrey De Leon to get the money from Shel in exchange for Cyrus’s freedom.
The four rogue cops managed to escape during the entrapment operation, Eleazar added.
The arrested boy will be placed under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Eleazar said. Recovered from him during the entrapment operation were the P30,000 boodle money, a gun replica and a motorcycle allegedly owned by a certain PO1 Buenaventura.
‘HELP ME, SISTER’
Shel told Eleazar that she received a text message from Cyrus asking for help on Wednesday morning, November 21.
“He said, ‘Help me, sister.’ I already had a hunch that something bad happened to my brother. Then I received a call around 6 a.m. from a man. He said ‘Are you willing to help your brother? Produce P200,000,” Shel narrated in Filipino.
Around 10 a.m., the man called again and asked Shel if she already has the P200,000 bail. However, Shel said it was too much and asked the cops to just file the case.
She then asked the identity of the man on the phone and where her brother would be transferred, to which she got this response: “Anong mas importante ‘yung pangalan ko o ‘yung kapatid mo? Hindi niyo na makikita ang kapatid mo.”
Shel said she managed to produce P20,000, but the suspects demanded to add P10,000 more before they could release her brother, not knowing that the victims already asked police help which led to the entrapment operation.
THE ACCUSED
PO3 Lupig, PO2 Guanlao, PO1 Fulgencio and PO1 De Leon are all assigned to Las Pinas SDEU. They were previously removed from the unit but was reassigned on October 3, 2018 when their boss, Senior Inspector Tigbao, was reinstated in his position as chief of Las Piñas SDEU, the Southern Police District (SPD) said.
Aside from the four primary suspects and their chief, Senior Inspector Tigbao, two other cops are being investigated by the NCRPO for possible involvement in the case, Eleazar said. They were identified as PO2 Jason Arellano and PO1 Erickson Rivera, also detailed at Las Pinas SDEU. They were formerly assigned to Las Pinas Police Station 8 where Senior Inspector Tigbao served as station commander prior to his reinstatement at Las Pinas SDEU.
Eleazar said he has already assigned the Southern Police District and the NCRPO-RSOU to conduct a manhunt operation against the four at-large suspects.
“These four cops (Lupig, Guanlao, Fulgencio and De Leon) did not appear when they were summoned by the Southern Police District. Meaning, they are guilty. The others (Tigbao, Arellano and Rivera), they reported to SPD for accounting and they were already transferred there for further investigation,” Eleazar said.
Las Piñas police chief Senior Supt. Balonglong and the other relieved SDEU personnel were also transferred to the SPD Holding and Accounting Unit (DHAU).
Balonglong was replaced by Senior Supt. Simnar Gran, former chief of Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division of NCRPO effective Friday. (Martin A. Sadongdong)
