Duterte orders DILG to file charges vs Iloilo lawmaker, mayor
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2018 07:19:46 +0000
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte asked the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to file charges against a lawmaker and his father for allegedly mauling a police officer in a town in Iloilo.
Iloilo Rep. Oscar “Richard” Garin and his father, Guimbal Mayor Oscar “Oca” Garin, ganged up on and mauled PO3 Federico Macaya Jr. in public on December 26.
Duterte told reporters during his visit to the wake of slain AKO Bicol Party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe that he was ordering Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano to “take a look why that happened and investigate.”
“But I will — I’m not urging him. I’m ordering him to file a case against the two,” Duterte said.
Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, regional director of Western Visayas, said the Garins asked Macaya and Police Senior Insp. Antonio Monreal, the town’s chief of police, to come to the Guimbal Public Plaza.
When they arrived, the older Garin ordered Monreal to disarm Macaya and then took the police officer’s handcuffs and put them on Macaya.
Rep. Garin then kicked Macaya several times, slapped him twice, spat on his face twice and fired his gun to intimidate him.
All these happened while Mayor Garin was pointing a gun to Macaya.
Garin said the incident stemmed from his intention to file charges against a Sangguniang Bayan member’s son, Virgil Gegato, who allegedly struck a bottle of beer against another man, identified as Noel Gicana.
Macaya, who was then assigned to the case of the two men, allegedly asked Gicana to drop the case, prompting the Garins to intervene because they believed that Macaya’s refusal to take action was “a betrayal of public trust and abuse of his position.”
“What police did was, to me, is a betrayal of public trust and abuse of his position. What [Macaya] did was clearly against the policy of the PNP not to move for the settlement of the case on the victim’s camp in a criminal case,” the lawmaker said.
Macaya said that he would file charges of physical injuries, assault to persons in authority and scandal and grave coercion against the two.
The police officer also said that he was preparing to file a case of grave threats against the mayor. RALPH VILLANUEVA
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