ARAYAT town Vice Mayor Sixto “Pogi” Mallari has denied the allegations hurled against him by two riders that he pointed a gun at them in Barangay San Jose Malino in adjacent Mexico town on June 22, 2019.
Mallari said it was his security personnel, an Aeta named Arman Delarna, who pointed a gun at two motorcycle riders, and that it was his child’s car that they were using during the incident.
But he asserted that his security personnel was merely performing his duty to protect him and his family.
“Ing isip da ambush daku deng riding-in-tandem kaya binaba ya ing security ku kaybat tinutuk yang baril. Pero kanitang ikit na makainum la mu dening lalaki at ala lang dadalang baril, sinake ne at meko dening security,” he stressed.
(They thought riders-in-tandem were about to ambush me that is why my security personnel stepped out and drew his gun. But when he saw that they were under the influence of alcohol and were not armed, he immediately went back to the car and drove away.)
Mallari defended himself after a certain Jayvee Evangelista and Raymark Montoya, who were on board a motorcycle along the said portion of Jose Abad Santos Avenue, filed a complaint against him before the Mexico town police.
Evangelista alleged that Mallari, who was on board a white sports utility vehicle, suddenly alighted from the vehicle and pointed a gun at him. Evangelista said the vice mayor may have been irked because he did not allow his car to overtake his motorcycle.
“101 percent asabi ku, definitely aliwa yaku ita. Atin ta naman mekanismu para ma-enhance ya itang video para maakit nung ninu itang lalaking ayta keng video a di-umano menutuk baril karela,” Mallari said.
(I can definitely say it wasn’t me 101 percent. We have mechanisms that can enhance the said CCTV video that can prove that it wasn’t me who was in the video that allegedly pointed a gun at them.)
Mallari said he was driving an orange pick-up truck that was in a convoy with Delarna, who was in the white sports utility vehicle driven by Mallari’s driver Edison Venzon. They were on their way to the City of San Fernando.
Mallari said he had gone ahead in his orange pick-up truck and the white SUV was trying to catch up when the motorcycle driven by Evangelista overtook them from behind.
“Kanitang miras la keng tete, atin adwang motor makaparada. Ngeni nang malapit nala, linub la ren at in-overtake nala deng security ku. Kaybat karas da ketang malapit barangay hall, megmenor la dening security kasi dakal tao at establisyementu. That’s the time na mekapagcut ya itang metung a motor, kaybat itang metung atsu keng kagulutan da,” he said.
(When they reached the bridge, there were two motorcycles that were parked in the area. When they were approaching, the motorcycles went in and overtook my security personnel. Then when they were at the barangay hall, my security personnel slowed down and that was the time that one of the motorcycles cut their way while the other was behind them.)
Mallari, meanwhile, said he already asked for forgiveness in behalf of his personnel and is ready to surrender them to authorities if proven that they have wronged anybody.
He, however, denied that he surrendered any firearm to authorities, and asserted that the gun used in the incident was a 45mm and not a 9mm.