|
Friday, November 29, 2002
Soldier fires gun, beaten up by folk
By Rene H. Martel
CEBU -- Two men got beaten black and blue while a couple in their 70s got injured by splinters in two incidents involving members of the 78th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Danao City.
The first mauling victim was Private Roger Navares Rojo, who tasted the wrath of Barangay Suba, Danao City toughies after he was punched and hit with flowerpots around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
That was after he “accidentally fired” his gun and injured Melchor Casia, 74, and his wife Rosela, 73. He and three other men had rented a room in a pension house belonging to the couple’s son.
Another version of the story, however, had it that the men were with two prostitutes and were arguing with a grandson of the Casia couple when the gun went off.
Around 25 hours earlier, in Binaliw, Danao City, Kimwa Construction mobile mixer driver Rolly Bejoc Durano, 34, of Dunguan, Danao city experienced what it’s like to be mauled by soldiers, after he accidentally hit the Hummer vehicle of the soldiers.
Rojo came to the police station last Wednesday and said that around 6:30 p.m. the day before, he was mauled by eight members of the 78th IB.
He said he accidentally hit the soldiers’ vehicle while negotiating an uphill portion in Sitio Calumboyan, Cambanay, Danao City.
Lt. Col. Jonas Sumagay-say, 78th IB commander, said the incident caused the vehicle to fall down the side of the road.
Sumagaysay said both incidents were unfortunate and promised to investigate what happened.
Melchor and his wife Rosela said Rojo and three other men arrived around 6:30 p.m., asking to rent one of the rooms at the Bayanihan Pensione House, which is owned by their son Renato.
The four men allegedly wanted to use the room to rest in after a drinking session. They negotiated with Renato’s son Cromwell, who showed them the rooms upstairs.
Cromwell and one of the men then went to the cottage where Melchor and Rosela were having dinner. Rojo followed.
What happened next is subject to question.
According to the couple, Rojo removed the magazine of his .45 pistol and tried to clear the chamber when it went off.
The bullet hit the concrete floor, bits of which injured Melchor in the left leg and Rosela in the left heel.
Several people in the neighborhood, though, said the couple was not telling the whole truth.
Sun.Star learned that the four men arrived at the pension house around 4 p.m. together with a certain Sherwin, who provided them with two prostitutes.
The girls were allegedly with two of the men on the second floor when the incident happened. The four of them fled the scene through the back, breaking the jalousies in the room.
Rojo allegedly argued with Cromwell because the four men were made to pay an additional amount.
“Mga P50 man ang oras unya nisaylo na man sila sa sabot nga three hours,” one of the neighbors said. (They agreed on P50 per hour for three hours, but the four men took longer than that.)
That led to Rojo allegedly brandishing his gun and accidentally firing it in the process.
Rojo would have been mauled to death had it not been for PO3 Rodrigo Roble, who lives in the neighborhood. Roble was able to keep his neighbors at bay.
Despite his bloodied face and the handcuff around his wrists, Rojo allegedly was so drunk he even kicked the policemen and the chief of the barangay tanods who tried to protect him.
Yesterday afternoon, a military man in a striped shirt and black vest arrived and whispered something to Melchor while reporters were interviewing the couple.
He left without even introducing himself on board a jiffy that media people saw parked in front of the police station.
It was the same military man who took Rojo from the police station on board the same jiffy around 5 p.m. to their camp in Sogod.
Insp. Nestor Magno, Danao City Police Station deputy chief, said they released Rojo because the couple refused to file a complaint.
“Hasol na kaayo dong. Tiguwang na mi. Basta baya-ran lang mi sa among gasto,” Melchor said. (It’s too much hassle. We’re too old. We agreed to accept the compensation they offered us.)
His wife added that all they wanted was for the soldiers to reimburse their medical expenses, which were just a little over P1,000.
In Binaliw, Danao City, it was Kimwa Construction’s service engineer Raul Arnado, 32, of Tuyom, Carcar town, who first reported that the soldiers had taken Durano.
Durano said he accidentally hit the Hummer vehicle while negotiating an uphill portion of the road in Sitio Calumboyan, Barangay Cambanay.
Sumagaysay said the incident caused the Hummer to fall down the side of the road.
Durano’s neighbors, however, doubted the claim because the soldiers were able to pursue and catch up with the mixer truck.
Durano did not stop the mixer truck out of fear for his life because the place was uninhabited.
He only stopped in the next barangay of Binaliw, and went inside the house of a woman, who had just given birth, to ask for help.
A source said the soldiers mauled Durano inside the house and even pointed their gun at the woman’s husband, warning him not to tell anyone.
“Ila man ganing gi-traffic ang dalan. Wala nay gipaagi nga mga sakyanan,” the source said. (They even conducted a roadblock, stopping other vehicles from entering.)
Sumagaysay promised to investigate what happened, promising he will punish his men if found guilty.
Arman Perez, provincial coordinator of party-list Bayan Muna, said the 78th IB has provided them with two more reasons why the unit should leave the province.
“Their continued presence in the mid-north endangers the life and livelihood of the people,” Perez said in a telephone interview.
He said the investigation Sumagaysay promised will go nowhere because the officer is known to shield his men.
Perez challenged the Commission on Human Rights to do their job and look into the incidents, and not just wait for the victims to show up in their office. Sun.Star Cebu |
|
|
|
 |
| click
to comment on this article or discuss it with other readers |
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Terror threats force closure of 3 embassies