QC police officer dies after figuring in bar melee

A Quezon City police officer died in a hospital after being punched while trying to pacify an altercation at a bar in Cubao district early Sunday morning. According to a police report, SP01 Reynaldo Mateo of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 7 fell unconscious after being punched by suspect Staff Sergeant Dominador Aguilar Baldemoro of the Philippine Air Force. Mateo and other police officers were trying to protect Alexis Perez and Elmer Guiral from Baldemoro and Noli Villafuerte Imperial wile in a bar around 2 a.m. An initial police investigation showed Perez and Guiral were dancing when they were bumped and mauled by Baldemoro and Villafuerte after a heated argument. Mateo was brought to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center but was pronounced dead on arrival while the two suspects were being apprehended. The suspects face possible charges for homicide, physical injuries, alarm and scandal and direct assault. As of posting, QCPD Station 7 could not be reached for more information on the incident. — with Bea Cupin/LBG, GMA News