Pasay cops accused of beating up teacher

Five Pasay City police officers have been relieved after they allegedly beat up a 42-year-old teacher for not wearing a motorcycle helmet on Saturday night, sending him to the hospital for surgery.

Senior Supt. Noel Flores, Pasay police chief, told the Inquirer that National Teachers College teacher, Sherwin Guardame, was operated on at Pasay General Hospital for a hematoma on Monday.

‘Oplan Sita’
The police officers who mauled him were from the Police Community Precinct (PCP) 5 who were conducting “Oplan Sita,” a crackdown on motorcycle-riding criminals.

Team leader SPO2 Basir Amil and Police Officers 1 Arvin Genove, Welma Delight Decene, Angelica Torres and Madonna Biasura were immediately relieved pending an investigation.

Senior Insp. Wilfredo Sangel, Station Investigation Division chief, said in an interview that the five were given 24 hours to submit their written explanations.

In a TV interview, Guardame narrated that he was accosted for driving a motorcycle without a helmet on Saturday night on D. Goerge Street, just meters away from PCP 5.

He said he was on his way to buy food when he was stopped by the police, who asked him to take a video of the officer who would give him a ticket.

“I did as I was told. But when I approached the policeman, I was grabbed by the collar and they beat me up. They kicked and punched me,” Guardame said, adding: “I thought I would be killed for not wearing a helmet.”

Cops: Victim was drunk
According to Flores, the police officers claimed that Guardame was drunk, swore at them and resisted their efforts to take him into custody. When they took him to the hospital, doctors refused to let him leave because of his injuries.

Sangel said that despite this, the police officers filed charges on Sunday against Guardame in the city prosecutor’s office, suing him for disobedience to authority, driving while drunk and without a helmet.