The Ombudsman ruled that Senior Police Officer Macario de Leon, PO3 Diosdado Rocero and PO1 Norman Tan, all assigned to the Central Police District-Station 3 (Talipapa, Novaliches) should be charged criminally and administratively.
"Let the information for robbery/extortion and arbitrary detention against the three policemen be filed with the Quezon City regional trial court and metropolitan trial court," Ombudsman prosecutor Dennis Garcia said in a three-page recommendation.
Garcia also noted that a charge of grave misconduct should also be filed against them.
The case stemmed from the alleged extortion of the three policemen on June 26, 1992, as Marlon Dig and his sister Juanita Dig-Evangelista said in their complaint.
Dig, 30, an employee of Royal Traders Bank was one of the passengers of a jeepney flagged down at a checkpoint by policemen in front of the Culiat police station in Quezon City.
After a search, Dig said Tan brought him to the detachment office and detained him without any charges. Later, Tan asked Dig to settle his case for P15,000.
When he failed to produce the money, Dig said Tan turned him over to Rocero, who was then the duty desk officer.
About an hour later, Dig’s sister arrived at the police station to inquire about the case. De Leon, who was then the duty investigator, "accommodated" her and demanded P40,000.
The policemen-suspects released Dig five days later after Evangelista managed to produce P15,000, which De Leon received.
Rocero demanded another P1,000 from the two complainants for the release of Dig’s Traders Royal Bank Identification (ID) card.
During a confrontation, the policemen denied all the accusations, saying not one of them had met or dealt with the complainants.
But Garce gave credence to the complainant’s testimonies, and their positive identification of the respondents in the photo gallery of the CPD.