PB TELLS POLICE: WATCH CONDUCT OF CHECKPOINTS

NOT all checkpoints are legitimate.

Cebu provincial legislators warned the public against unauthorized
checkpoints set up by unscrupulous policemen or kidnappers disguising as
policemen to shake down motorists.

Quoting the public advisory of Police Deputy Director Hermogenes Ebdane,
Provincial Board Member Victor Maambong said there were already two
incidents where car owners were arrested and locked up until they paid for
their freedom and promised not to file cases against their abductors.

Maambong and Provincial Board Member Manuel Masangkay sponsored a
resolution urging the Police Regional Office 7 to conduct massive
surveillance on suspected groups.

The measure will be discussed during the board's regular session today.

"(This modus operandi) is really a threat to the public since checkpoints
are believed to catch criminals," the resolution read.

The board members added that the "goons in uniform" would plant evidence
such as shabu in flagged-down vehicles.

"The need to curb this insidious scheme before it proliferates is highly
mandatory," they added.