Traffic aide nabbed for extortion
MANILA, Philippines — A traffic aide of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) was arrested by policemen for alleged extortion in Pasig City on Friday.
Jomar Palata, 35, was arrested by operatives of the Highway Patrol Group in an entrapment operation in front of a gasoline station at the corner of Ortigas and Meralco Avenues in Barangay San Antonio at around 9:45 p.m., HPG director Rommel Francisco Marbil said.
Prior to the operation, Marbil said they received a complaint from a businesswoman about Palata’s extortion activities.
The businesswoman alleged that Palata, posing as a personnel of the Land Transportation Office, flagged down one of her commuter vans along Ortigas Avenue on April 28, supposedly for an unspecified traffic violation.
Marbil said Palata threatened to apprehend all her passenger vans if she does not pay P100,000.
The suspect was arrested after he accepted the marked money from the complainant.
Palata faces charges of robbery extortion and usurpation of authority.— Ralph Edwin Villanueva
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