2 mediamen fight over Customs

A RADIO blocktimer and a columnist of a newspaper fought over an issue involving the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Davao City, the radioman admitting he gets a "retainer's fee" from the government office.

The incident occured at Winward Coffee and Restaurant along Magallanes Street, Davao City around 1:45 p.m. Thursday.

The complainant is identified as Bobby Pontongan, 44, a columnist for Waterfront News and resident of Bread Village in Buhangin, Davao City. He sought the assistance of the San Pedro Police Station immediately after the incident.

Based on his complaint, he was drinking coffee at the restaurant when Mel Pauliño, a radio announcer arrived and harassed him.

Pontongan, in his blotter report quoted Paulino as saying: "Dugay na wala nagamit akong baril, basig ikaw pa ang magamitan niini (My gun has not been used for a long time. You could be the person whom I will use it with)."

"Diha ko sa Winward Coffee nagatrabaho sa akong column. Kalit siya miabot. Daw hayop ko nga iyang gikompronta. Ug nanghulga pa gyud (I was writing my column when he arrived. He treated me like an animal and threatened me)," Pontongan told Sun.Star Superbalita.

He said some other radiomen saw what happened.

"Mikaryo siya nga di lang daw nako hisgutan ang isyu sa Custom. Pero, sugo man sa Main Office, akong gituki ang isyu mao nga nasuko siya (He told me not to tackle the issue about the Customs but our main office ordered me so I wrote about it and he got angry)," Pontongan said.

He said that Paulino got angry because he claims close links with officials of the BOC.

"Mianhi ko sa Davao City Police Office kay akong ipa-check kung lisensiyado ang iyang armas (I went to the Davao City Police Office to check if his gun is licensed)," Pontongan said.

Senior Police Officer 4 Eduard Ramirez of the Investigation Detection and Management Branch (IDMB) of the DCPO, said that they will check whether the suspect is indeed in possession of a firearm.

"Nasuko ko sa iya kay iya kong giintrigahan didto sa City Hall nga gigamit daw nako ang pangalan ni Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio sa akong transaksiyon sa DENR (I was angry because he told City Hall that I used the name of Mayor Sara in my transactions with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources)," Pauliño told Sun.Star Superbalita.

Pauliño claims receiving a retainer's fee from the Customs and that Pontongan is just envious.

He insists that he has not used any politician in his transactions with the government.

Pauliño also admitted that they have argued over an issue involving BOC which led him to hit the victim.

"Pagkita namo didto sa Winward Coffee Shop, ako siyang gisita ug gikapkapan kay nakabalita man ko nga naa siyay caliber .22 nga baril (When I saw him, I scolded and frisked him because I heard he is carrying a caliber .22 gun)," Pauliño said. (Alger Dura)