An official of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in the Caraga Region is facing criminal charges for allegedly threatening to have a tribal leader shot with a rifle.
The Office of the Ombudsman on Monday said it found probable cause to charge NCIP Region XIII Director Jose Jake Dumagan, Jr. for Grave Threats and Light Threats under Articles 282 and 283, respectively, of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
The Ombudsman, quoting complainant Mamanwa tribe chieftain Datu Reynante Buklas, said Dumagan threatened to shoot the tribal leader.
“Do you see that rifle, it has a very big scope. I will use that rifle to have you shot in the legs so you will be limped but I will not kill you. You better think of your decision,” Buklas recalled Dumagan as saying, according to the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman also suspended Dumagan for six months after finding him guilty of simple misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a public official in a related administrative case.
The incident involving the NCIP official and the tribal leader reportedly happened during a meeting on March 22, 2017.
Dumagan allegedly questioned Buklas’ decision to discontinue the services of a certain lawyer identified as Alfonso Casurra as their tribe’s legal counsel.
The Ombudsman said Buklas had discontinued Casurra’s services without consulting the NCIP official.
Likewise, the Ombudsman said Dumagan allegedly threatened to have Buklas replaced as tribal chieftain of the indigenous community in Taganito, Claver, Surigao Del Norte.
“Under Article 282 of the RPC, Grave Threats is committed by any person who shall threaten another with the infliction upon the person, honor, or property of the latter, of any wrong amounting to a crime,” the Ombudsman said in a statement.
“A threat to commit a wrong not constituting a crime, meanwhile, is punished as Light Threats under Article 283 of the RPC,” it added. /vvp