• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
More victims of the police recruitment scam in Negros Occidental yesterday appealed to La Castellana Councilor Donato “Natnat” Dumaguit to return their money.
Dumaguit and his alleged cohort Mary June delos Santos are both facing large- scale estafa complaints before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office after they were implicated in the alleged P15-million hiring racket, which victimized about 47 police aspirants, majority of whom are La Castellana residents.
“We need that money to pay back our debts,” said Bienvenido Berja Jr., whose son Kenneth Marvin, was among the victims.
In a press conference in Barangay Cabacungan, Berja said he was able to pay P272,000 in cash to Dumaguit for a “package deal”, including transportation expenses to Manila, that would allow his son to join the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Berja debunked the claims of Dumaguit that he was the one who approached him to facilitate the entry of his son to the PNP.
On the contrary, he was the one who approached me, he added.
He said Dumaguit assured him that his son, who is a Criminology board examination passer, has more chances of getting into the police service through his connections.
Berja said they decided to pawn their small farm and borrow from relatives to raise the money required by Dumaguit.
A couple, who are also police aspirants, said they gave Dumaguit a total of P567,000 while two siblings also revealed they paid P541,000 to the councilor.
The couple, who asked not to be identified, said they borrowed money from a relative with five percent interest as they believed and trusted that Dumaguit would deliver on his promise.
They said Dumaguit told them that he is ready to gamble his P80,000 monthly salary as member of the Municipal Council to prove the legitimacy of what he was doing.
They were also told that Dumaguit will return their money, if their training as police officers will not push through.
The complainants refuted claims of Dumaguit that they were the ones who approached him. | GB
