Ex-PNP official punched FBI man, probe shows

MANILA, Philippines–Not only active members are giving the Philippine National Police a bad rap these days.

A retired PNP official and now owner of a security agency is facing charges after he was identified as one of the persons who punched an agent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) following a minor vehicular accident Monday night in Pasay City.

According to the Pasay police, FBI special agent Lamont Siler recognized Odelon Ramoneda—owner of V8 Security Agency Corp. and former acting director of the Bataan Police Provincial Office—as one of his attackers, who also included four, shotgun-toting men “in barong.”

This was after the American was shown a photo of Ramoneda, whose name cropped up as investigators traced the owner of the Toyota Fortuner which Siler’s car slightly damaged in the Sept. 8 incident on Roxas Boulevard.

Siler was then driving a car around 7 p.m. near the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex when its side mirror accidentally got into contact with and left scratches on the Fortuner. According to the complaint reaching the police, two other SUVs blocked his path and a group of armed men got out and dragged Siler out of the car at gunpoint.

The American was then punched by the men (not just by one man, as earlier reported), as they demanded payment for the damage. They then asked for his driver’s license and US Embassy badge, but returned these items to him and left in a hurry, saying they would still call him about the payment. The incident was later reported to the Pasay police by US Embassy Manila Special Investigator Voltaire Gomez.

The PNP Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies (Sosia) confirmed that Ramoneda, a retired senior superintendent, runs V8 Security and Investigation Agency based in Balanga, Bataan.

In an interview, Sosia head Chief Supt. Noel Constantino said the retired official served as acting provincial police director of Bataan, a position he held in 2007. His last position was head of the Regional Headquarters Support Service of the Police Regional Office 3 in Central Luzon.

Ramoneda retired from the police service in 2010, Constantino said. “His security agency was set up in 2012 with a license to operate for two years,” he added.

Pasay police investigation section head Chief Insp. Joey Goforth said his office was able to trace the ownership of the Fortuner (with conduction sticker YF-8560) to Ramoneda after a check with Toyota Motor Phils.

Goforth said his men had Ramoneda’s name checked with the PNP-Sosia because Siler also noted that the armed men who confronted him were all in barong and their movement indicated that they were “trained” for such road encounters. These made investigators suspect that they were private security personnel.

Photos from the PNP Sosia database were later shown to the American on Wednesday.

The Pasay police said they would file complaints for grave threats and maltreatment against Ramoneda Friday, after Siler signed a document authorizing Goforth to sue on his behalf.

Efforts are underway in coordination with PNP-Sosia to identify the other men who attacked the FBI agent, Goforth said.

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