Fake Red reb nabbed by police for extort

BY MAR SUPNAD

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Police arrested Tuesday a man who claimed to be a member of the New People’s Army in an entrapment after he tried to extort money from a top government official here.

Senior Supt. Isagani Nerez, provincial police director, reported to Chief Supt. Leopoldo N. Bataoil, Region 1 police director, that Noel Santos, 39, was caught in the act of extorting money from Provincial Engineer Divina de Leon.

The arresting team was led by Supt. Rolando Magno, head of the intelligence office the provincial police office.

Nerez said Santos tried to extort R180,000 in cash from De Leon in exchange for protection.
A check made by the police showed Santos was not a member of the NPA but was using the rebel movement’s name only to extort money form businessmen and government officials.

Santos reportedly claimed to be the spokesman of the CPP-NPA in Ilocos Region composed of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan.

Nerez said the suspect was a notorious member of an extortion group operating in the Ilocos, Central Luzon and Metro Manila.

Nerez said the alleged victims of Santos included a nun in Pampanga and engineer of DPWH in Pampanga.

Meanwhile, a plan of the CPP-NPA top build a camp at Sitio Lopez, Calomboyan, Mangatarem was thwarted after alert elements of the PNP and Army overran it.