The Pampanga Provincial Board (PB) led by Vice Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda is launching an investigation on the complaints of alleged extortion and abuse filed against the former police chief of Mabalacat City and his men, including a police “asset”.
Businessman Rogelio Yangco of Madapdap Resettlement, Mabalacat City and his driver, Arsenio Belleza Jr. of Prado Siongco, Lubao town disclosed before the PB regular session on August 12 that a certain Jerry Villanueva, a police “asset,” had asked them to give P100,000 in exchange for the release of some P500,000 worth of gasoline “confiscated” from the driver by the “asset” on August 3 in Barangay Dolores.
Yangco and Belleza said the alleged extortion and negotiations were done at the office of Chief Insp. Gil Domingo, former city police chief. They added that “Domingo was even in front of them during their conversation” at the city police chief’s office at the old municipal building in Barangay Poblacion.
“I was begging to them (Villanueva and Domingo) to cut the amount demanded by Villanueva. We reached an agreement and the demand was lowered down to P50,000,” said Yangco in the dialect.
Pampanga Vice Gov. Dennis Pineda (standing, right) listens to driver Arsenio Belleza (standing, left) as he recounts his harrowing experience with former Mabalacat City police director Chief Insp. Gil Domingo and his men during the Provincial Board regular session on August 12. –Photo courtesy of Leo Villacarlos
“I even approached Domingo and asked him to intervene and convinced Villanueva not to charge too much,” he added.
PROBE SOUGHT
Third District Board Member Ananias “Jun” Canlas urged the presiding officer and his colleagues to investigate after learning about the allegations of Belleza and Yangco, who is a native of Bacolor town.
“Considering the gravity of the complaint, the PB’s committee as a whole should investigate this incident,” Canlas, a former mayor and vice mayor of Bacolor town, said.
Third District Board Member Rosve Henson said: “The Provincial Board would like the proper authorities to conduct a thorough investigation on this incident considering that our own inquiries on this complaint showed verifiable information that there was indeed abuse of authority, infidelity in possession of potential evidence, conspiracy, extortion among other offenses committed by elements of local police authorities.”
“We would like the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to conduct formal investigations and file necessary charges on this matter,” he added in an interview on August 18.
According to Yangco and Belleza, they were not able to get the names of the other policemen in the station who were aware of the incident.
In a letter sent to the Vice Governor, Belleza stated that in the early morning of August 3, Villanueva, on board a maroon Mitsubishi adventure van (AHA 1740), overtook the tanker he was driving while he was plying the MacArthur Highway in Dolores, Mabalacat City.
Villanueva “confiscated” the tanker and took it to the Mabalacat police station, where it was put “on hold”. Villanueva also took the keys of the tanker.
In the afternoon of the same day, Belleza and Yangco found the tanker at the 888 Emission Testing Center where a certain “Jovie” was in the process of transferring the tanker’s gasoline, some 20,000 liters (P500,000), to Jovie’s truck.
When Belleza tried to take the tanker from Jovie, the latter told him that he had to return the vehicle to the Mabalacat Police Station.
There, a boy working at the station gave Belleza the keys to the truck. However, Belleza saw that the tanker’s bumper was damaged.
“I decided to seek help through the office of the vice governor whom I know is an advocate of peace and order. Besides, my driver is from Lubao who knows very well the Pinedas,” Yangco said.
Pineda was a former three-term mayor of Lubao town.
Domingo could not be reached for his comments. This news entity sent an SMS to Pampanga Provincial Police Office (PPO) director Sr. Supt. Rodolfo Recomono, Jr., on Thursday morning, informing him of the incident. He was also informed of the reporter’s desire to get the whereabouts of Domingo, so he can be interviewed for his comments. However, Recomono has not responded as of presstime.
The two complainants, Domingo and the new police director of Mabalacat, will be invited to attend the PB’s investigation, it was learned. The schedule of the probe is yet to be announced.
Mabalacat is a component city, along with the City of San Fernando under the jurisdiction of the PPO.