For alleged extortion: Register of  Deeds official arrested

CEBU, Philippines —   The head of the Mandaue City Register of Deeds is now in hot waters for allegedly extorting money from an applicant for annotation in a certificate of title.

Atty. Reynaldo Paredes Mayol was caught in the act of accepting the marked money from the operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation Central Visayas (NBI-7) in an entrapment operation on Friday, November 25.

Lawyer Renan Agustus Oliva, NBI-7 director, told reporters via a press conference on Monday that Mayol is the chief of the Mandaue City Register of Deeds.

Oliva said Mayol was sued before the office of the NBI after he was complained by a certain Manuel Dy Jr.

According to Dy, Mayol extorted a "huge" amount of cash from him, when he transacted officially with the Office of the Register of Deeds.

He stated that he was able to secure a prior Certificate of Finality of a favorable judgment from the Regional Trial Court 18 in Cebu City. After that, he allegedly gave P100,000 for the annotation of a Certificate of Title.

But when he requested an annotation for another Certificate of Title from Mayol, the latter allegedly asked him for another P150,000 as another consideration for the second annotation.

"Later on in their negotiation, Dy said Mayol instead suggested that he would rather issue another title for the supposedly second annotation and demanded another P150,000 for the new title's release," said Oliva.

These actions, Dy said, prompted him to seek the NBI's help, and the agency immediately conducted entrapment operations on Friday morning where Mayol was caught red-handed accepting the P150,000 marked money in his office.

Oliva said Mayol denied the allegations against him, but he tested positive for fluorescent powder being planted in the marked money.

He added that they are also investigating if Mayol has cohorts.

On Monday, Oliva said Mayol underwent an inquest proceeding at the Office of the Ombudsman for the Visayas where he opted to have a case filed against him so he could post bail.

Oliva said Mayol will face charges for violating Section 3(b) of the Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), Article 210 (direct bribery under the Revised Penal Code), Republic Act 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of the Public Officials and Employees). - Robhe Jane C. Yara and Romeo D. Marantal  JMD (FREEMAN)