Three firefighters of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) were arrested and landed in jail after being caught in an entrapment operation in Barangay San Rafael Village, Navotas.
According to Police Col. Rolando Balasabas, chief of Navotas Police, arrested a male Senior Fire Officer 2, and two Fire Officers 1 who were all stationed in the said city.
The victim Jessie Que, 67 years old, first sought help from the police. A fire burned the garage of his house on February 1, and the firefighter immediately responded to the fire scene.
Even though it was almost a week ago, he still had not been issued a recovery permit and incident report on the fire.
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3 firefighters arrested for extorting money from fire victim
According to Balasabas, the suspects are asking for P100,000 in exchange for the permits the victim is seeking.
Acting on this information, the police conducted an entrapment operation yesterday, where the victim dealt with the suspects who asked him to give P10,000 first.
When the transaction became positive, the suspects were arrested and are now facing robbery extortion charges.
Extortion is punishable with up to 20 year’s imprisonment under the Penal Code as well as dismissal from the service under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.