Las Piñas Police says no proper coordination with EPD on op vs. Chinese businessman

The Las Piñas Police said that there may have been intent from the Eastern Police District District Special Operations Unit (EPD-DSOU) to not properly coordinate the arrest of a Chinese businessman in Las Piñas last week, which is now being looked at for alleged anomalies.

According to Las Piñas Police chief Police Colonel Sandro Tafalla, the coordination process was not correct, as they only received notice two hours before the arrest warrant was served, versus the usual 24 hours before.

“Natanggap namin 12 noon and then the operation or the implementation or the service of warrant is 2 p.m. Kumbaga parang sinadya na dalawang oras lang,” he said in Nico Waje's report on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

“Para hindi siguro, you know, hindi ample time for us para talagang thoroughly ma-assess namin ‘yung warrant. Kumbaga may intention sila na hindi namin ma-evaluate mabuti ‘yung coordination,” he added.

(We received it at 12 noon and then the operation or the implementation or the service of warrant is 2 p.m. It was as if they deliberately just gave us two hours. Maybe, you know, so that there will not be ample time for us to thoroughly assess the warrant. In other words they had an intention for us not to properly evaluate the coordination.)

He was referring to the operation against a Chinese businessman in an exclusive subdivision in Las Piñas City on April 2, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Southern Police District (SPD) and not the EPD.

The police officers allegedly tried to extort P12 million from the businessman in exchange for his freedom, along with supposedly taking cash in the form of foreign currencies, gold bars, jewelry, and expensive watches.

The businessman, through a friend acting as a translator, claimed that the police officers took some P85-million worth of cash and goods, and that he was not the person identified in the arrest warrant.

He said that the warrant was for a person whose first name and surname were the businessman's surname and first name, respectively. He also showed photos and videos as proof that the police officials took video cameras in the area.

Eight of the police officers involved in the operation have since been relieved, and have submitted to the Las Piñas Prosecutors Office for inquest. Their legal counsel has maintained that they are innocent and the operation was legitimate and was made known to officials. The officers will face charges of robbery, unlawful arrest, illegal detection, and kidnapping. — BM, GMA Integrated News