SEIZED FROM FAKE COP. Police operatives confiscated from Robel Canlas a PNP bag which contained a .45-caliber handgun with six bullets, a fake PNP ID and badge. The suspect will face charges of usurpation of authority, estafa, and illegal possession of firearms. (Photo courtesy of PNP)
MANILA -- A man posing as police officer was arrested for alleged extortion on a woman police applicant in an entrapment operation in Rodriguez, Rizal over the weekend.
Col. Romeo Caramat, head of the Philippine National Police-Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG), identified the suspect as Robel Canlas, 59, a resident of Mabalacat, Pampanga.
Caramat said Canlas allegedly promised complainant Maureen Coronel, a PNP applicant, that she would get into the PNP despite not meeting the height requirement.
Canlas was collared in an entrapment operation inside a convenience store at Del Pilar Street, San Rafael, Rodriguez, Rizal on Sunday afternoon after receiving from Coronel the marked money amounting to PHP4,000.
Nine others have also fallen victim to Canlas' alleged extortion racket, Caramat said.
“Very strict 'yung pagtanggap ng applicant for PNP dahil we want is cream of the crop... huwag po kayo maniwala and sa mga nabiktima pumunta sila dito sa opisina [and we] encourage them to file cases against the suspect,” Caramat told reporters.
Caramat said IMEG operatives confiscated from the suspect a PNP bag which contained a .45-caliber handgun with six bullets, a fake PNP ID and badge.
Coronel told police that sometime in August 2018, Canlas introduced himself as SPO2 Gerome Canlas and offered assistance to help her in securing a height waiver in exchange for PHP40,000.
In October 2018, Coronel paid the said amount to Canlas. After one week, the complainant asked the suspect for the results of the height waiver but she was told not to worry and instead asked to produce another PHP20,000 for the neuro and medical examination, which was sent to the suspect thru money courier Palawan Express Padala.
The suspect will face charges of usurpation of authority, estafa, and illegal possession of firearms. (PNA)
