Polio victim seeks help over mishandling of soldiers

Thursday, December 1, 2011

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- A polio victim, allegedly mishandled by some elements of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 7, sought for the assistance of two Cotabato City-based press clubs in his quest for justice.

Complainant Christopher Ballares, 32, a polio victim, expressed fears of a possible whitewash or censorship of the incident by Cotabato City police, the unit tasked to investigate the alleged manhandling case and indiscriminate firing of guns of some Marine soldiers over a minor misunderstanding, Monday night.

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Major General, Rustico Guerrero, commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps, assured Central Mindanao's media community he would order a thorough investigation of the case.

"Definitely we will take action," Guerrero told a journalist in Cotabato City.

The incident, according to local officials in Cotabato City, reportedly stemmed from a shooting incident just few meters away from a detachment of MBLT-7 in Barangay Bagua.

They said that responding Marines, some of them wearing short pants and reeking with smell of liquor, arrived at the scene and, without warning, vented on occupants of a house near the spot where someone was shot.

According to witnesses, a Marine officer and his men beat Ballares and his uncle, Hector Cresensio after forcing them to help identify the gunman that shot a 15-year-old girl near the Marine detachment.

Other Marines also fired their assault rifles while the officer and at least two subordinates took turns strangling and beating Ballares and Cresensio.

"One of the Marines even shot a sodium lamp on a nearby post," they told reporters.

Media in Cotabato City have since been flooded with appeals by various sectors for the immediate relief of the Marines involved in the incident.