ANGELES CITY, Pampanga, Philippines—Police on Monday arrested former actor Royette Padilla after his wife complained that he beat her up inside a bar at the Clark Freeport.
Padilla, 49, who was driving a Nissan Safari, was arrested by Clark Development Corp. (CDC) security personnel and Angeles City policemen at the freeport’s main gate at 4 a.m. He was with his four-year-old son.
In her sworn complaint, Padilla’s wife, Jane Cheryl, 39, said they were inside the V8 Resto Bar in Clark to celebrate the birthday of their son. At around 2 a.m., she said she asked Padilla to leave the bar and return to their house at the Redwood Villas in Clark.
“But he got angry at me and started screaming inside the bar… when I stood up to leave, he grabbed my arm and pushed me to a corner. He started punching me in the face until I fell down. Royette continued punching me even as I was lying on the floor,” Jane Cheryl said in her complaint written in Filipino.
She said she was able to escape, leaving Padilla and their son inside the bar. Moments later, CDC security personnel arrived and tried to convince Padilla to turn over the boy to Jane Cheryl. Padilla refused.
After 30 minutes, Padilla left the bar with his son and boarded his vehicle. Policemen stopped him at the Clark main gate.
It took several minutes for Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Recomono Jr., acting city police chief, and Chief Inspector Luisito Tan, Station 4 commander, to convince Padilla to alight from his vehicle and go to the police station.
Padilla was charged with violation of Republic Act 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004) before the Angeles prosecutor’s office.
Padilla was taken to a hospital here for a medical examination on Monday afternoon before he was detained at the city jail.
Padilla, a brother of actor Robin Padilla, once became controversial for his reported involvement in the group, H-World United Nations Philippine Military Government International Police Commission, in the early 1990s. He claimed to be a brigadier general in the group.