The head of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) belittled yesterday the charge filed by 17 members of the QCPD’s Galas police station against policemen who arrested them for extortion in May 2018.

QCPD head Chief Supt. Joselito Esquivel Jr. insisted that the operation against the members of the drug enforcement unit (DEU) of the Galas station was legitimate.

Esquivel said the extortion complaint against the ex-DEU officers led by Chief Insp. Erwin Guevarra stemmed from an entrapment operation showing the policemen receiving money from a relative of drug suspects they earlier arrested.

Guevarra and his men filed the complaint against the arresting officer before the Office of the Ombudsman, claiming the operation against them were not legitimate.

But Esquivel said the summary dismissal and the criminal charges against the suspects were part of the internal cleansing discussed by Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde during a recent visit to the Daily Tribune.

“This is the first time in the history of Philippine National Police that police scalawags (rogue cops) had filed a case against policemen who were only doing their jobs,” Esquivel said.