The mayor of Guimbal town in Iloilo and his son, a congressman, will be charged for beating up a policeman, police said Wednesday.
In an interview with radio dzMM, Western Visayas regional police director Chief Supt. John Bulalacao said Mayor Oscar Garin and his son, Iloilo 1st District Rep. Richard Garin had summoned PO3 Federico Macaya and beat him up after he was disarmed, body-searched and handcuffed at gunpoint.
The mayor and his son will be charged with physical injuries, alarm and scandal, a direct assault against an agent or person in authority, and grave coercion, Bulalacao said.
“I told Congressman Garin that I’m taking this incident as an affront to me. I will not let this pass without taking action against them,” Bulalacao said in a statement.
The Garins’ police escorts have been recalled, he said.
Despite an apology from the congressman, Bulalacao said his men had the right to file charges against him and the mayor.
Bulalacao said the incident stemmed from Macaya’s failure to arrest the suspect in an altercation involving the congressman and two others.
Macaya said he could not arrest the suspect because the victim refused to file charges because he didn’t want his parents to know about the incident.
Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde told radio dzMM that he ordered Bulalacao to relieve the Guimbal police chief of his duties and to cancel the mayor’s deputation over the local police.
“What really hurts is that these are elected officials, they were voted by the people,” he said in Filipino, referring to the Garins.