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Friday, August 25, 2006
Fil-Am lottery winner charged with attempted murder
By Alex P. Vidal
A 62-year-old retired US Navy officer has filed attempted murder and illegal discharge of firearm charges at the Provincial Prosecutor's Office against a prominent Filipino-American cockfighting aficionado who allegedly threatened to kill him inside a cockpit in Igbaras, Iloilo.
Eliseo "Pudoy" Javelosa of Barangay Cubay, Jaro district claimed that at around 4 pm last August 20, "as a gesture of sportsmanship", he tried to shake the hand of suspect Michael Escanlar, "but he refused to respond to my handshake and instead was fuming mad because his cock lost in the fights against my roosters."
Escanlar, who is from Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, allegedly reprimanded Javelosa "and I know that he was very upset and could not accept the defeat of his cock," Javelosa said in his affidavit subscribed and sworn to by Provincial Prosecutor Bernabe D. Dusaban on August 22.
"I offered an apology and I mentioned that if indeed I offended him, I made the apology which he rejected right then and there," Javelosa narrated in his affidavit. "He then pulled out an automatic firearm of unknown caliber and brand and said in the dialect: 'Ano gusto mo single o automatic?' at the same time pointing the machine pistol to me with intent to kill me."
At this juncture, two persons present in the area pacified Escanlar, the other one "parried the firearm to the direction upwards and when he fired the firearm it hit the roof of the cockpit arena," he alleged. "I was supposed to be hit had it not for the intervention of the two persons."
As a result, Javelosa said, he felt nervous and urinated in his pants "and I am still suffering from the traumatic fear I suffered during the incident."
Javelosa said: "Escanlar is not supposed to carry firearms in public places where he displayed his irresponsibility in gun handling especially that he used the same to commit a crime in aggression and as a result of which, being already old, I suffered pain in my abdomen and required me to be examined by my specialist."
Javelosa accused Escanlar of employing "treachery, taking advantage of superior strength, with the aid of armed men in order to ensure or afford impunity."
Javelosa said "the intent to kill was apparent" because Escanlar allegedly fired another gun, a .45 caliber pistol "and fired all the bullets in the magazine of his gun in a display of hatred and anger."
Javelosa's allegations were supported by witness Noel Palencia, Jr. of Aguinaldo St., Igbaras, Iloilo who was in the cockpit when the incident happened.
Meanwhile, Igbaras police failed to arrest Escanlar after he and his companions fled after the incident, which was recorded in the Igbaras PNP.
Escanlar could not be reached to comment on the allegations against him.
(August 25, 2006 issue)
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