Olongapo cops rebuff LTO guard’s bribe try for smuggled car
Olongapo cops rebuff LTO guard’s bribe try for smuggled car
Policemen in Olongapo City rejected Friday the P80,000 bribe offer by a security guard of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in a bid to have a smuggled Porsche Carrera released, an official said.
Senior Superintendent Abelardo Villacorta, city police chief, said LTO personnel and policemen intercepted the luxury car at a checkpoint along Barangay (village) Kalapate at past 2 a.m.
Policemen, however, failed to arrest the guard, identified as Pablito Meres and assigned at the LTO inside the nearby Subic Bay Freeport, because he rushed out of the police's Station 4 when authorities refused to take the bribe, Villacorta said in a phone interview.
"Our men resisted bribery and corruption," he said.
A Philippine Daily Inquirer source at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said Meres initially offered P30,000. He increased the amount when the policemen refused to take the money.
Villacorta said investigators have started tracing who sent Meres to bribe the police.
As of posting time, charges for corruption of public officials and conspiracy in smuggling are being readied against Meres, he said.
The SBMA source said the black 1999 model Porsche (license plate number ZHA 798) was one of two Porsches reportedly scheduled to be taken out of the freeport. A Humvee jeep was said to be part of the smuggled items.
The driver of the seized car, Karlo Geneta, 19, was arrested.
Geneta said he picked up the car inside the freeport from a person he did not identify. He also claimed not knowing the real owner of the car.
Villacorta said the car's documents appeared to have been "tampered with."
"No [Bureau of] Customs paper was presented," he said.
Armand Arreza, administrator of the SBMA, ordered an investigation on the source of the cars.
This was the first known incident of car smuggling at the freeport after the government destroyed 18 luxury vehicles in August.By Tonette Orejas - Inquirer Central Luzon Desk
Policemen in Olongapo City rejected Friday the P80,000 bribe offer by a security guard of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in a bid to have a smuggled Porsche Carrera released, an official said.
Senior Superintendent Abelardo Villacorta, city police chief, said LTO personnel and policemen intercepted the luxury car at a checkpoint along Barangay (village) Kalapate at past 2 a.m.
Policemen, however, failed to arrest the guard, identified as Pablito Meres and assigned at the LTO inside the nearby Subic Bay Freeport, because he rushed out of the police's Station 4 when authorities refused to take the bribe, Villacorta said in a phone interview.
"Our men resisted bribery and corruption," he said.
A Philippine Daily Inquirer source at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said Meres initially offered P30,000. He increased the amount when the policemen refused to take the money.
Villacorta said investigators have started tracing who sent Meres to bribe the police.
As of posting time, charges for corruption of public officials and conspiracy in smuggling are being readied against Meres, he said.
The SBMA source said the black 1999 model Porsche (license plate number ZHA 798) was one of two Porsches reportedly scheduled to be taken out of the freeport. A Humvee jeep was said to be part of the smuggled items.
The driver of the seized car, Karlo Geneta, 19, was arrested.
Geneta said he picked up the car inside the freeport from a person he did not identify. He also claimed not knowing the real owner of the car.
Villacorta said the car's documents appeared to have been "tampered with."
"No [Bureau of] Customs paper was presented," he said.
Armand Arreza, administrator of the SBMA, ordered an investigation on the source of the cars.
This was the first known incident of car smuggling at the freeport after the government destroyed 18 luxury vehicles in August.
Labels: lto, olongapo, pnp, smuggling, villacorta
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