CIDG-Bacolod top cop nabbed for extortion

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – Police Major Melvin Madrona, head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) here was arrested in an entrapment operation for alleged extortion inside a cockpit at Barangay Mansilingan here on Thursday.

The Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) based in Camp Crame arrested Madrona after receiving a report accusing him of allegedly extorting money from a female KTV owner here.

According to a source who refused to be named, Madrona allegedly asked for P5,000 from the KTV owner to exclude her in their operation against selling of alcoholic beverages.

The source said Madrona initially asked P10,000 per weekly from the complainant, but the latter negotiated to have it decreased to P5,000.

The complainant gave him P5,000 last February 20, but he again allegedly demanded for another P5,000 which prompted her to report him to the authorities.

When she agreed to the deal, Madrona told her to meet him at the cockpit, where he was apprehended.

The source said Madrona would also ask for hotel accommodation, food, and air fare from the KTV owners.

Another civilian was also arrested in the operation and was subjected for investigation.

Madrona was temporarily placed under the custody of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) headquarters.

While undergoing booking and mugshot at Nocppo on Thursday night, three more complainants surfaced with the same accusations.

The source said that Madrona was placed under monitoring for quite some time because of his alleged vice in cockfighting and alleged extortion.

Madrona will be facing extortion charges and additional illegal gambling charges. He will also be charged for his administrative offense.

For his part, Madrona, who got injured when he resisted arrest, denied the accusations against him when he faced the media early Friday.

He claimed that the complainants just put up a scenario to press him with such allegations because they were caught for a violation.

“Wala akong hiningi na pabor sa inyo,” Madrona said as he faced some of the complainants.

Madrona was also allegedly involved in a mauling incident, injuring a motorist over a traffic altercation in Quezon City in 2017.

Meanwhile, the source said that four more persons in the province are also subject for monitoring for the same modus, but no details were provided pending the investigation.