THE Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) commended the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) following the arrest of two suspects tagged in the illegal solicitation of millions of pesos in campaign contributions for the UniTeam.

Retired Gen. Thompson Lantion, secretary-general of the PFP, said the police did a great job in stopping the criminals from taking advantage of the people’s genuine support and love for Bongbong Marcos and Inday Sara Duterte, by asking huge campaign contributions from the unsuspecting victims.

“We commend the leadership of PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos and PNP-CIDG chief Maj. Gen. Albert Ferro for a job well done. Umaasa kaming mahihinto na ang pagsasamantala sa ating mga kababayan, lalo na ang milyun-milyong mga tagasuporta ng BBM-Sara UniTeam,” Lantion said.

Ferro identified the arrested suspects as Reynaldo Llorin, 64; and Rolly Balazon, 53, both residents of Omicron Street, RT Gonzales Village, Quezon City.

Two of their cohorts identified themselves as Isidro Sososco, councilor of Bgy. Aurelio, San Jose, Dinagat Island; and Ma. Buen Bajar Castillo, who is now running for municipal councilor of San Jose, Dinagat Island, managed to escape.

The police official said the suspects were leaders of the Bangon Bagong Maharlika Movement who presented themselves as allies of the BBM-Sara UniTeam, which Lantion denied.

“Wala po kaming grupo na pinapayagang mag-solicit sa ating mga kababayan. Kaya nananawagan kami sa mga tagasuporta ni BBM na mag-ingat sa mga ganitong klaseng modus. Huwag po kayong matakot mag-report dahil tiyak mahuhuli sila ng ating mga awtoridad,” added Lantion.

The suspects were collared by the elements of the CIDG-National Capital Region led by Police Col. Randy Glenn Silvio in an entrapment operation following complaints from many of their victims.

It was gathered that the main targets of the suspects were independent mayoralty candidates from the provinces, as well as some overseas Filipino workers and private businesses who were willing to support the campaign of Bongbong and Sara.

Their modus was to ask big sums of money from local bets in exchange for the supposed support of Bongbong and Sara by raising their arms during the sorties in their localities.

That prospect however is apparently remote since the tandem has pre-scheduled activities even before embarking on rallies.

On the other hand, the suspects duped OFWs and private businesses by demanding money from them supposedly as additional funding for the campaign of the UniTeam.

According to Ferro, the syndicate targeted only BBM and Sara because they were the leading candidates in the coming elections and have proven to be an inch away from winning the presidency and vice-presidency, respectively.

“Ang BBM-Sara UniTeam kasi ang pinakamalakas na ticket sa darating na halalan, kaya talagang sila ang tatargetin at gagamitin ng mga sindikato para makapanloko at mangalap ng salapi sa iligal na paraan,” he said.

In a related development, Ferro said they are also checking the suspects’ backgrounds to determine if they were also involved in the reported plan by some groups to assassinate Bongbong to stop him from winning the presidency.