HuliCam Act of 2016 2013-00478 To Serve and Protect Collect Here’s a situation we Filipinos are familiar with: A driver gets flagged down by a police officer, and then gets accused of a traffic violation. The driver, who is sure he didn’t commit any offense, defends himself from the allegation. The officer then bribes him for money instead to waive the accusation. The driver later on results to paying the officer to save him from the trouble. One of the problems in our country is that our police officers and public officials sideline as professional extortionists and engage in “kotong”. Villar (2010) explains kotong as: An act when a law enforcement officer or public official unlawfully extracts money or property through intimidation or undue exercise of their authority against any person facing apprehension or charges for violating or suspected of violating any law in exchange for protection against possible arrest or filing of charges. Not only drivers or motorists are the victims of kotong, but also ordinary civilians. Officials in government offices who deliberately delay the processing and releasing of documents are also capable of unlawfully extracting money from the people. Behavior usually classified as corruption are as follows: bribery, extortion, theft, fraud, tax evasion, or racketeering (Weld, 1988). Police corruption, in reference to bribery, extortion, and racketeering, is rampant in the Philippines, and in a given situation that a police officer engages in kotong, there exists an abuse of power, power bound by the nature of his occupation. It’s horrific to think that the ones who are doing these crimes are the very same people who have vowed to protect and serve us the civilians. And the sad part here is that the civilians,