Eight members of the Eastern Police District (EPD)’s Special Operations Unit who allegedly stole P75 million in cash and valuables from a Chinese businessman in Las Piñas have posted bail after a court, citing weak evidence, granted them temporary liberty.
Las Piñas Regional Trial Court Branch 197 Judge Eric Ismael Sakkam recommended bail of P300,000 for each of the police officers accused of kidnapping for ransom.
The suspects – four staff sergeants, two corporals and two patrolmen – posted bail on Monday.
In a 10-page resolution dated Nov. 3, Sakkam granted the police officers’ petition for bail even if they were charged with a non-bailable offense.
The victim, Chinese trader Li Jie, did not testify despite being accorded numerous opportunities to do so.
‘His absence on the witness stand, being the most crucial witness in this kidnapping case, substantially weakens the opposition to the petitions for bail,’ the court ruled.
The court noted that only the victim can testify on the circumstances surrounding his alleged kidnapping.
Another witness, a Chinese national, also failed to testify, which could have bolstered the case against the police officers.
The prosecution presented Col. Glenn Lomogan, who was the EPD’s deputy district director at the time.
The prosecutors, however, said that Lomogan was merely one of the arresting officers and lacked personal knowledge of the actual circumstances about the alleged crime.
The police officers are accused of bringing Li to the EPD headquarters in Pasig where he was allegedly held for P100 million in ransom in April.
Li supposedly had a warrant of arrest for illegal possession of firearms. It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity as the person on the warrant was arrested by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in March 2023.