Manila,Philippines — Police on patrol in the streets of Quezon City got an earful yesterday from their district director, who was incensed by those using their nighttime rounds as a chance to prey on couples kissing and petting in their cars.
Chief Superintendent Richard Albano, Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director, said police in his turf are now banned from making the rounds only to arrest couples in cars.
Albano was particularly peeved at the incident involving three policemen from the QCPD Station 11 in Galas who allegedly extorted P20,000 from a couple they caught “making out” inside their car parked on 8th Street, Barangay New Manila, Quezon City last Tuesday night.
Two of the policemen – Police Officers 1 (PO1) Ronald Que Englis, 39, married, of Tondo, Manila, and Roland Roman Mansibang, 28, single, of Barangay Tatalon, Quezon City – have been arrested. They are now under “restrictive custody” at the QCPD headquarters in Camp Karingal, said Albano.
The third police-suspect, PO1 Christopher Lucky dela Pena, has not showed up since the supposed shakedown. The couple alleged that the three threatened to charge them with public scandal if they did not come up with a “P20,000 fine.”
Albano gave a strong message yesterday to police patrollers: “The priority of the police is to fight criminality and not make the rounds of the city to catch couples having an intimate moment inside their parked vehicle.”
