Misamis Oriental cops file harassment raps vs. Army men

Cops from a city in Misamis Oriental on Saturday filed charges against a group of soldiers who allegedly harassed and threatened to harm some of their colleagues last Sunday. Gingoog City police chief Superintendent Leony Roy Ga on Saturday filed before the military court grave misconduct and harassment charges against soldiers from the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Battalion, and similar charges before the Philippine National Police’s Regional Internal Affairs Service (RIAS) for Northern Mindanao. According to police records, about 12 allegedly drunk and fully armed soldiers alighted from a military truck at 8:30 p.m. last Sunday and surrounded the Gingoog City police office. The group’s commanding officer, identified as 1st Lt. Dan Soriano, reportedly ordered all police personnel inside the office to line up and started scolding them. Soriano, who was supposedly carrying an M16A1 rifle (popularly known as “baby armalite") during the incident, also allegedly threatened to harm the local cops, and made a throat-slashing gesture at the policemen, the report said. The soldiers also reportedly ordered all civilians in the police office to go home while they harassed the cops. Deputy Gingoog City Police Director Pinky Barsubia said she and her colleagues are also planning to file similar charges against the soldiers before the local prosecutors’ office due to the “harm" the Army men supposedly caused to the civilians. GMANews.TV tried to get the side of the soldiers, specifically Soriano, but military personnel from the 8th IB said he could no longer be located as he was already relieved from his post. Another soldier, Army PFC Salvador Tubos, said that the incident may have been triggered by a mauling incident carried out on him by a local police officer two weeks ago.—Ben Serrano/JV, GMANews.TV