Vendor files robbery complaint against six Caloocan cops

The vendor who accused six cops of taking his P14,000 cash has already filed a formal complaint, Caloocan Police chief Sam Mina said on Thursday.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Mina said the cops admitted that they hurt the complainant identified as Eddie Yuson, but they denied the allegation of robbery.

“Na-encourage naman natin yung complainant na mag-file ng reklamo for almost five days na kino-convince naming mag-akyat ng kaso. Naiakyat noong Monday ng hapon,” he said.

(We were able to encourage the complainant to file a complaint after convincing him for five days. The complaint was filed on Monday afternoon.)

Mina said that Yuson did not mention the supposed robbery when he initially reported the incident in a blotter.

The PNP identified the cops as Police Corporals Noel Espejo Sison, Rommel Toribio,  Ryan Sammy Gomez Mateo, Jake Barcenilla Rosima, Mark Christian Abarca Cabanilla, and Daryl Calija Sablay.

They are all members of the Drug Enforcement Unit of Caloocan City Police Station.

These cops allegedly took street vendor Eddie Yuson's P14,000 cash aid from the government when he was on his way to buy dinner for his children on March 27. The cops allegedly cornered him and inspected his bags.

CCTV footage captured the incident, which showed the policemen searching  through the victim’s wallet and then hitting him on the head.

Based on the cops' accounts, they asked for the victim’s identification cards after they noticed him roaming around the area where they were conducting an anti-illegal drug operation.

According to Mina, the asset of the anti-drug operation, who was inside the vehicle of the police, and Yuson knew each other.

“They vehemently denied the accusation…Kasi sabi lang nila, chineck nila yung body bag nya. Kasi umaaligid siya sa legitimate na anti-drug operations. Standard procedure nila na i-verify kung sino siya, chineck body bag nya, Kinuha IDs nya,” Mina said.

(They vehemently denied the accusation… They said they only checked his body bag because he was in the area where there was a legitimate anti-drug operation. It’s their standard procedure to verify his identification. That’s why they searched his body bag and took his IDs.)

The cops involved have been disarmed and are now in restrictive custody. —LBG, GMA News