Thursday, November 06, 2008 Probe on prank caller leads cops to mentally disturbed man, 32
POLICE arrested a 32-year-old man who was found to have made the prank call and claimed last Tuesday afternoon that the Daanbantayan Police Station was under attack by about 20 armed members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Christopher Tuazon Buayaban, alias “Papi”, a resident of San Jose St., Barangay Tuminjao, Daanbantayan, Cebu was arrested and detained at the police station more than two hours after making the call.
Buayaban, who was arrested after a follow-up investigation by the police, is a son of a former Philippine Constabulary member.
Psychiatric
He was once admitted in the psychiatric ward of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, according to information gathered by the police from Buayaban’s father.
The call was made two days after 40 suspected communist rebels stormed the police station in La Libertad, Negros Oriental and carted away the policemen’s firearms and personal belongings.
Buayaban’s call through the police hotline 166, which is directly connected with the Cebu City Police Office, led the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) to immediately declare a full alert in the northern part of Cebu.
Members of the Special Reaction Unit and Provincial Mobile Group detailed at the South Bus Terminal were pulled out and placed on stand by at the CPPO Headquarters in case of emergency augmentation.
Trunkline
The call, however, turned out to be a prank. What made the call appeared to be genuine because the caller reportedly identified himself as SPO4 Melchor Batucan, deputy chief of Daanbantayan Police Station.
Daanbantayan police was able to trace Buayaban because the police trunkline is equipped with a caller ID.
Batucan, in a telephone interview, said that Buayaban admitted making the call past 4 p.m., Tuesday.
Buayaban allegedly made the call after he saw the police hotline number from the notebook of a sibling.
On why he used Batucan’s name, Buayaban reportedly said he saw the police official’s name as a signatory of the police clearance of his sibling and decided to use the name in calling the police hotline. (JTG with DRT of Sun.Star Superbalita)
