FO1 James Royce Cañete is arrested for allegedly extorting money from an applicant of the Bureau of Fire Protection. | Photo courtesy of CIDG-7
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A firefighter assigned in the Bureau of Fire Protection in Mandaue City (BFP Mandaue) was caught allegedly extorting money from an applicant.
Fire Office 1 (FO1) James Royce Cañete, 27, of Placer town in Masbate was arrested in an entrapment operation on Friday, June 28, said Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas chief, in an interview.
Sinas said that the joint operation of the Mandaue police, BFP Mandaue and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7) was conducted after the applicant, Mark Neal Pancho, 28, sought the authorities help.
Pancho of Sitio Kauswagan, Lapu-Lapu City claimed that Cañete allegedly told him that he would only need P30,000 to surely be accepted as a firefighter-recruit.
Pancho, however, could not produce the money, but he later found out that applying to be a recruit for the BFP was free.
He then turned to authorities for help because he did not want other applicants to fall prey to Cañete asking cash from applicants for an assurance to be accepted as a firefighter-recruit.
On Friday, the joint operation was conducted in Barangay Centro, Mandaue City with Pancho contacting Cañete and offering to pay P3,000 as an advance for the P30,000 needed.
After the marked money changed hands, Cañete was arrested and detained at the Mandaue City Police Office detention cell pending the filing of robbery, extortion and bribery charges./dbs