Mugshots of Capt. Josep Bocalbos and Staff Sgt. Joel Bunagan. (Photos courtesy of PNP-IMEG)
MANILA – There will be no letup in the crackdown against erring cops amid the enhanced community quarantine against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the anti-scalawag unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Thursday.
This as the Integrity Monitoring Enforcement Group (IMEG) arrested two active cops for alleged illegal activities in separate operations in Metro Manila on Wednesday.
In a press statement, IMEG chief Col. Ronald Lee identified the suspects as Cpt. Josep Pedro Bocalbos, 55, commander of the Paz police community precinct (PCP) in Ermita, Manila and his cohort Joyce Sajines, 47 who were both arrested during an entrapment operation.
The operation stemmed from the complaint of market vendors that they are being asked to shell out a daily 'tara' (grease money) of PHP150 for Bocalbos.
Acting on the complaint, officers of IMEG Luzon Field Unit, with the assistance of members of the NCRPO Regional Intelligence Division/ Regional Special Operations Group and the Manila Police District launched the entrapment operation which led to the arrest of Bocalbos and Sajines inside the precinct.
The money being collected by Sajines alias ‘Joy’ is in exchange for the continuous illegal vending of the complainants along the public market in the area in Paco, Manila, the PNP-IMEG found out.
Both suspects are now under custody at the IMEG lock-up facility in Camp Crame pending the filing of criminal charges against them.
The police officer will also be facing administrative charges for grave misconduct.
On the same day, IMEG agents arrested Staff Sgt. Joel Bunagan, who is assigned as an ambulance driver at the PNP Health Service Transport Section in Camp Crame.
“We also caught on the same day another policeman violating the strict 'No Kotong' policy of the PNP leadership, one who is demanding money from police applicants by claiming he can alter the result of their medical records in exchange for big amounts of money,” Lee said.
Bunagan was nabbed in an entrapment operation at a supermarket along Commonwealth Avenue in Fairview, Quezon City after he received PHP100,000 marked money from complainant Alexander Ecle.
“We conducted the sting amid information that the accused was promising some police recruits who have failed the PNP medical examination that they will be able to pay their way into the 205,000-strong police organization,” he added.
Bunagan is detained at the PNP-IMEG jail and is facing both administrative and criminal charges for robbery-extortion.
Lee called on the public to report any PNP personnel (uniformed and non-uniformed) involved in any irregularities to the PNP-IMEG hotlines: SMART -- 0998-970-2286 or GLOBE -- 0995-795-2569. Information may also be forwarded to Facebook Page: Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group. (PNA)
