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Thursday, November 24, 2005
Mayor tells Labra to probe mauling of driver
PO2 Albert Luardo said the jeepney driver he had detained for a traffic violation was treated properly and that he never laid a hand on him.
When he stopped Oscar Sarte, 30, in the Banilad area, he said he presented his police ID. Since he wanted to avoid a confrontation, he proceeded to the Talamban police station to file a complaint against the jeepney driver.
To avoid suspicion of a whitewash, Acting Cebu City Police Director Melvin Gayotin is planning to ask the Internal Affairs Services to do the investigation on PO2 Luardo of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB).
Mayor Tomas Osmeña also wants CIIB Chief Pablo Labra II to do an honest-to-goodness investigation into the allegation that one of his men mauled and stapled the ears of a jeepney driver.
“That’s truly upsetting. Col. Labra has to show and convince everyone, including me, that there are proper steps taken. And we have to be satisfied with the results,” Osmeña told a press conference yesterday.
Labra promised to get to the bottom of the incident, particularly on Sarte’s accusation that the maltreatment was done inside the CIIB office.
“We don’t want this thing to happen in my office. I don’t condone such practice. Investigation is a must,” Labra said.
The CIIB chief met his men yesterday afternoon to discuss, among other things, the controversies involving Luardo and PO1 Roy Carlo Veloso, who fatally shot a suspect during a drug raid in Barangay Luz last Sunday night.
Gayotin said he cannot relieve Veloso and Luardo yet because they are part of the close-in security personnel for VIPs in the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, which will open in Cebu tomorrow.
He will decide on the two policemen’s fate after the SEA Games.
Sarte was arrested last Saturday night for allegedly blocking Luardo’s multicab along Gov. Cuenco Ave. in Barangay Banilad.
Labra, however, said there was no record of Sarte being taken out from the stockade last Monday night.
Luardo also said the same thing.
Traffic row
“You can check the records if he (Sarte) was pulled out of the stockade at any point during his detention. The duty guard will record everything because he is the one held responsible for anything that happens to those in custody,” Luardo told Sun.Star Cebu last night.
Leah Octaviano-Luardo, the policeman’s wife, narrated that Sarte, who was driving an Isuzu truck converted into a jeepney plying the Talamban route, almost rammed their multicab.
Both Sarte and Luardo stopped for a red light at the intersection of Banilad and A.S Fortuna St.
The jeepney, Leah said, was on the lane for A.S. Fortuna-bound vehicles, picking up passengers.
Sarte suddenly made a left into the lane the multicab was taking and, in the process, almost collided with their vehicle, Leah said.
“He (Sarte) sped away but we caught up with him near Sto. Niño village. I went down and approached him to check his license and to ask if he was even aware of what almost happened, but he demanded for my identification instead,” Luardo said.
Questioning
He showed Sarte his police ID card but the driver continued to act brashly and told him (Luardo) to show some consideration for drivers who only rent vehicles.
Luardo said he decided to avoid a confrontation because Sarte had passengers and they were in the middle of traffic. He proceeded to the Talamban police precinct, which is about a hundred meters away, to file a complaint.
The Talamban police wanted to question Sarte so they waited for him near the intersection of the road going to Bacayan and Talamban.
They hailed the jeepney to stop but the driver sped up and almost ran over Luardo.
“We ran to the police station to get the station’s patrol car and pursued Sarte. We later took him into custody and brought him to the Talamban police station, where he continued exclaim that we were simply picking on him. I decided to ask that the CIIB be given custody of him because it was our case. After I drove my wife home, I and the Talamban policemen brought him (Sarte) to the headquarters,” Luardo said.
He said that at no point before or after the arrest did he assault Sarte.
“I could not have hit him while we were on the road. He was on board his jeepney all the time. I couldn’t reach him from outside even if I wanted to. I am not tall enough,” he said in Cebuano. (JST/KNR/RHM)
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