Philip Morris vows not to condone erring employees

Screengrab from a YouTube video

MANILA, Philippines—Cigarette maker Philip Morris on Wednesday vowed not to condone “inappropriate conduct” by any of its employees after one of its executives was caught on camera slapping a traffic enforcer.

“We are aware of the incident involving our employee Robert Blair Carabuena,” Philip Morris said in a statement Wednesday.

It said that the incident took place last Saturday while Carabuena “was on his personal time and was not doing any work in behalf of the company.”

Carabuena, a human resource manager of the Philip Morris, and his brother Robert Benjamin were filmed Saturday while in the act of berating and attacking an enforcer of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

The 27-second video of Carabuena bullying traffic constable Saturnino Fabros, which was taken by a producer of TV5, had spread like wildfire in the Internet and drawn the attention of the MMDA officials and even the Malacañan Palace.

“While the complete facts surrounding the incident are not yet clear to make a full appreciation of the situation, the company would obviously not condone inappropriate conduct by any of our employees,” said Philip Morris.

“We understand the matter is being investigated by the authorities and we will monitor developments closely,” it said.

Fabros, a traffic enforcer of the MMDA for 27 years, went to the MMDA headquarters on Wednesday to execute his affidavit for the direct assault charges to be filed at the Quezon City prosecutor’s office against Carabuena and his brother.

Apart from slapping the motorist with a criminal complaint, MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino had also asked the Land Transportation Office to cancel Carabuena’s driver’s license saying an “abusive and arrogant motorists like him… have no right to be in the road in the first place.” With Niña Calleja, Philippine Daily Inquirer

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