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Wednesday, August 31, 2005
2 soldiers reprimanded
A TOP military official here sanctioned two of his men for abusing a civilian.
Colonel Alfredo Cayton, 601st Army Brigade commander here, reprimanded Staff Sergeant Papellera and Corporal Palermo after it was found out during investigation that they abused a motorist.
This paper tried to get the first name of the said enlisted men but Cayton failed to provide their first names.
On afternoon of August 18, Papellera and Palermo were manning a military checkpoint along the National Highway here when a motorcycle driver who was not wearing a helmet passed by.
The soldiers flagged down the driver who was later identified as a certain Roberto Marimon.
Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the City Government here have been imposing a "No helmet, no travel" policy.
This is anchored on a local ordinance passed by the city council requiring motorcycle drivers to wear a protective gear while driving.
The two military personnel, who are members of the Joint Task Force-Gensan, called up their headquarters asking that LTO office be informed that a driver was caught for not wearing a helmet.
Since there ware no LTO enforcers available that time, the military men asked the motorcycle driver to chose between waiting for LTO men to arrive or just one lash using a wooden club on the butt.
Cayton said his men were just joking, but they did whip the butt of Marimon after he reportedly agreed.
He was allowed to continue with his journey after getting hit in the butt.
After learning about it, Cayton directed Joint Task Force-Gensan commander Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Bartiana to conduct investigation.
In his findings, Bartiana recommended the imposition of appropriate sanction against his men for showing unprofessional conduct toward a civilian.
On Friday, Cayton issued a memorandum reprimanding Papellera and Palermo.
The military official said maximum administrative punishment was meted out against two military men.
This includes disqualification from promotion for one year starting at the issuance of the reprimand order, two-month restriction within the military camp and 15 days hard labor.
The two military men apologized to Marimon, but, Cayton said, they must be disciplined to avoid setting a bad precedent.
He said this serves as a warning to other military personnel to conduct them selves properly and treat civilians with respect. (AZ)
(August 29, 2005 issue)
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