The deputy chief of the City Police Office (CPO)here and two
other cops are in hot waters after getting involved in a night club brawl on
the morning of April 2 with U.S. Marines soldiers participating in the
Balikatan 2016 (BK 16).
Sr. Supt. Redentor Marañon, director of the CPO in Puerto
Princesa, said Tuesday that his deputy police chief, Supt. Ariel Celino, and
two others identified as S/Insp. Winner Paguia and SPO2 Jimmy Dalupines, might
be liable for violation of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) gun ban for
figuring in a brawl at Club 54 with U.S. Marines, who were participating in BK
16.
Marañon said this after a video of the April 2 incident came
out, where a gun was seen being brandished during the fracas that happened inside
the bar located at Malvar Street here.
He said Celino and the two others have been relieved pending
the result of the investigation that is now being handled by PSI Mervin
Immaculata, the CPO’s chief investigator.
The incident, which was not immediately known, only came out
Tuesday when a copy of a CCTV footage was posted on Facebook by local radio
channel Bandera News Philippines .
Marañon said that if the investigation could prove Celino’s
group had taken out a gun, he and the others could be sued for violating the
election gun ban.
At about 2:30 a.m. on April 2 , the video clip showed
Celino’s group inside Club 54. One of the policemen was even seen dozing off on
the table allegedly due to consuming too much alcohol.
At around 2:40 a.m., someone from a nearby table, assumed to
be from the group of U.S. Marines, was seen tapping the bottle of one of the
policemen causing beer bubbles to come out.
Paguia, who was seen sitting with a woman, got up from where
he was sitting and confronted a partially shown individual.
Employees of the bar were also seen approaching to pacify
him and the people on the other table.
Moments later, Paguia was seen putting on a bag and taking
out a gun wrapped in what appears to be white cloth or paper.
Celino, a burly-built tall policeman, came into the scene
being stopped by employees of the bar from further confronting the clients on
the other table. Shortly before three in the morning, fight ensued between the
policemen and the U.S. Marines.
A U.S. Marines was shown too, in the video, going to Paguia
in an alleged attempt to take the gun that was in his bag. Then Celino hit him.
In the video, the deputy police chief was also seen grabbing
a bottle he attempted to hit another U.S. soldier. He was however,
stopped in doing it.
Paguia, was on the other hand, on the floor with U.S.
Marines trying to retrieve the gun from him. The scene was only partially shone
in the CCTV footage.
A U.S.
soldier in green sleeveless shirt was seen instants later holding Paguia’s gun
while the skirmish between Celino’s group and the others was going on in the
background.
The footage ended with the U.S. soldiers going out of the bar
and a woman wiping the nose of Celino.
It was only on April 6, according to Marañon, that the owner
of Club 54 filed a complaint at the CPO, claiming they lost profits that night
about a hundred thousand.
The police chief said that when asked, Celino’s explanation
was that they were in the bar because they were on monitoring and surveillance
duty against a drug user and pusher.
Marañon assured that their investigation of the incident
will be fair for all parties involved. Necessary cases will also be filed if
the inquiry will prove there is cause against Celino’s group.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=875818
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