MANILA, Philippines — Grab driver Florence Norial was freed on Tuesday after posting P3,000 bail for a criminal case filed against her over allegations of assaulting a police officer in Taguig.
In a phone interview with INQUIRER.net, Taguig police chief Colonel Celso Rodriguez confirmed that Norial was released after posting bail for an unjust vexation case filed by Police Captain Ronald Saquilayan at the Taguig Prosecutor’s Office.
“Yes, na-release na po [si Norial]. Yes, nag-post ng bail for unjust vexation,” he said when asked for clarification if Norial was indeed released from Ususan, Taguig police.
(Yes, she was released. Yes, she posted bail for unjust vexation.)
Norial is facing a case for alarm and scandal, direct assault, and disobedience of a person in authority after being accused of hitting Saquilayan, chief investigator of Pateros police.
In the Taguig prosecutor’s resolution shared by Norial’s boyfriend, Miguel Shahzad, the prosecutor’s office said it found no probable cause to indict Norial for the said cases. Instead, she was charged with unjust vexation.
“However, this Office finds probable cause to charge her [Norial] with unjust vexation under Article 287 (2) of the Revised Penal Code,” read the resolution.
After clarification, the prosecutor’s office set the bail at P3,000, not P1,800, contrary to Rodriguez’s earlier statement.
The prosecutor did not charge alarm and scandal against Norial because she was acting against a particular person or complainant and “not against the public per se or public order.” Alarm and scandal complaints are applicable to “any disturbance or scandal in public places.”
There was also no probable cause for complaint of direct assault because the act of Norial hitting the lawman “cannot be characterized as serious,” the prosecutor said.
“While complainant [Saquilayan] alleged that he was hit by respondent [Norial] on his head, the same cannot be characterized as ‘serious’ to come within the purview of the crime,” read the resolution.
The case of disobedience against a person in authority was also dismissed because Saquilayan “was not in the exercise of his duties at that time.”
In another Facebook post on Tuesday, Shahzad said Norial is currently regaining her strength after being detained for nearly seven days.
“Nailabas na po namin siya [Norial] after almost 7 days. Pumayat sya lalo pero we will do our best na ibalik ang sigla nya,” read the post.
(Norial has now been released after almost seven days. She got slimmer but we will do our best to regain her normal strength.)
When questioned if Norial’s camp will file a countersuit against the police officer, Shahzhad said they would first focus on “regaining Norial’s strength.”
An altercation between Norial and Saquilayan started when the Grab driver asked the lawman to move his car that was blocking the driveway at the coffee shop in Taguig on Oct. 6.
Saquilayan said in his complaint that Norial was “unruly and resisted” his arrest. He arrested Norial and called Taguig Sub-Station 4 personnel to transport the Grab driver to the police station. [ac]
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