Pangasinan Cop, POSO Officer, Tanod Nabbed for Extorting Money from Motorists
A cop along with Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) officer and a barangay tanod were arrested for allegedly extorting money from motorists.
The three were suspected of extortion against motorists without COVID-19 control documents along the border of Bayambang and Alcala, Pangasinan, according to the Ilocos regional police. If the motorists failed to provide their vaccination card, the suspects allegedly profited from it.
“The modus operandi of the arrested suspect is to ask for vaccination card of the motorists and if they cannot present they must first pay P500,” said Police Brig. Gen. Oliver Enmodias, director of the Philippine National Police Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG).
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The suspect cop was identified as Police Corporal Daniel Penuliar of the Bayambang Municipal Police Station, according to Enmodias. Felomino Espejo, a member of the Bayambang Public Order and Safety Office (POSO), and Nestor Layno Sr., a tanod of Brgy. Bayambang, Pantol were also arrested.
A police officer who pretended to be a driver during the entrapment disclosed the suspect’s PNP identification card, service pistol, handheld radio, and P500. Following the event, regional police director Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Peralta ordered Lt. Col. Andres Calaowa’s administrative relief as Bayambang PNP head.
Penuliar, Espejo, and Layno were captured after an entrapment by members of the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) and Bayambang Police. Police initiated the operation after receiving information that the trio had been collecting money from motorists who had failed to display their passes.
Calaowa, Penuliar’s direct superior, was relieved of his duties, according to Peralta, for suspected lapses in overseeing his people. He ordered the Pangasinan provincial police to work with the IMEG and assist in case investigation and filing.
Peralta emphasized the importance of police unit commanders in the Ilocos region effectively supervising their people in accordance with the philosophy of command responsibility. He also stated that the regional police is dedicated to the PNP leadership’s scalawag crackdown.
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