MANILA, Philippines – Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II on Wednesday, September 10, urged the policemen suspects in the September 1 EDSA robbery and kidnapping incident who are still at large to surrender.

At least 10 cops – with ranks from Chief Inspector to Police Officer 2 – are suspects in an EDSA robbery and kidnapping incident that went viral on Twitter. A Twitter user snapped a photo of armed men, a van, and a sedan surrounding an SUV.

After much speculation, the Philippine National Police on September 8 announced that 9 of their own and 1 dismissed cop were believed to be involved in the incident.

In a press conference at Camp Crame, Roxas said surrender would be “for their own good.” As of posting, 3 of the 10 have surrendered: Chief Inspector Joseph de Vera, Senior Inspector Allan Emiano, and Police Officer 2 Jonathan Rodriguez.

Emiano wasn’t part of the initial list of suspects, but it was Rodriguez who eventually revealed his alleged involvement.

Roxas said the PNP would not fail in its pursuit to weed out rogue cops.

“One culprit at a time, one suspect at a time. Hindi natin sila tatantanan, hindi natin sila sasantuhin…brod man sila or classmate man sila or whatever…. Kung meron kang pagkakasala, hahabulin ka namin,” said Roxas. (We won’t stop pursuing errant cops. No one is a sacred cow here. If doesn’t matter if you’d a friend or classmate. If you did something wrong, we will chase after you.)

Two of the cops – Senior Police Officer 1 Rameil Hachero and Police Officer 2 Jonathan Rodriguez from the La Loma police station in Quezon City – have pending cases before the National Police Commission for a similar incident back in 2011.

During the press conference, Roxas confirmed the two are due for dismissal from the service. The PNP Eastern Police District’s Internal Affairs Service has since started a probe into the incident, under the orders of PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima.

Roxas, Purisima, and National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Police Director Carmelo Valmoria assured the public cases such as the 9 La Loma cops are isolated incidents. – Rappler.com