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Friday, June 09, 2006
3 soldiers threaten bike law enforcers
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- Three soldiers belonging to Task Force Davao are now in hot water for allegedly violating Thursday morning Davao City's motorcycle ordinance.
Aside from the violations, the soldiers allegedly threatened arresting police officers with harm and even allegedly bragged about not being under Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte's jurisdiction since they are Scout Rangers.
Ariston Navarro, Joel Cahatian, and Arnel Abarca were onboard an unregistered motorcycle when they were accosted at a police checkpoint along Times Beach around 2:30 a.m. Thursday.
Reports reaching Sun.Star Davao said Abarca recently bought the unregistered motorcycle.
The soldiers just came from "rest and recreation" at the Bangoy Beach resort when they were halted at a police checkpoint.
The move was in implementation of the orders of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Talomo Police Station Chief Inspector Matthew Baccay.
The three men, who were not wearing helmets, did not slow down when they passed by the checkpoint, prompting the police to flag them down. The motorcycle was also overloaded.
The soldiers were reportedly under the influence of alcohol and threatened the police with backlash for impounding their motorcycle. They threatened to come back with their comrades and a Simba tank.
Thirty minutes after, the soldiers indeed came back with Armalite rifles but without a Simba tank.
The soldiers were said to be looking for Senior Inspector Aquino Sereño, deputy Talomo station chief, who was in charge of the police checkpoint at that time.
According to Sereño, the suspects arrogantly introduced themselves as members of Task Force Davao and reeked with liquor.
The suspects allegedly refused when the police asked them to show their driver's license and ID.
"I went near my men when I sensed there was a problem. They identified themselves as members of the Ranger and Task Force," Sereño said.
Sereño added he told the group to understand their situation, as they were only following Duterte's orders.
However, one of the passengers onboard the motorcycle gruffly said he does not care about Duterte and the driver sped off.
"One of them aimed his armalite gun at us so we had to duck for cover," Sereño said.
The police officer said he will not ignore the incident and that he will report it to the City Mayor's Office.
The three suspects fled when they saw the nearing mobile patrol team of the Talomo Police Station.
Task Force Davao Spokesman Patrick Cinco earlier said they did not receive any report that any of their members harassed anybody.
Task Force Davao chief Eduardo del Rosario, during Thursday's press conference at their headquarters, identified the suspects as members of their group.
Del Rosario promised he will administer "disciplinary action or possible discharge" against the three soldiers since they do not allow abusive men in their ranks.
He said the suspects were not in their proper state of mind due to the influence of alcohol and because of this, they could have said things they never meant.
Del Rosario added he already ordered a separate investigation into the incident to determine if the soldiers are liable for any violation, criminally and administratively.
The three are now under the custody of Task Force Davao while the unregistered motorcycle is with the Talomo police. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
(June 9, 2006 issue)
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