PSG already sacked member who punched girlfriend, says commander

MANILA, Philippines — A Presidential Security Group member charged in court with assaulting his girlfriend in their barracks at Malacañang Park had been relieved, officials said on Sunday.

Brigadier General Ramon Mateo Dizon, PSG commander, said that Private First Class Jober Babaran was relieved by his company commander after the incident in January.

“At all levels in this command, we do not tolerate transgressions of regulations and discipline,” Dizon said in a text message to reporters.

The Manila prosecutors’ office last week recommended the filing of charges against Babaran for violation of the law on violence against women and children. He failed to appear on three dates set for the preliminary investigation of the complaint.

Babaran allegedly punched his girlfriend Rose Marie Adalig who wanted to end their relationship after learning he was married with two children.

PSG had been in the news earlier this week after two members – Army Sergeant Marvin Gaton and Corporal Bobby Ates – were arrested in connection with a P100,000 car shop robbery in Quezon City.

The pair, together with three others, allegedly broke into the Streamline Auto Salon and Detailing Shop in Lagro, Novaliches, handcuffed its owner and hogtied its security guard. The victims reported the loss of a laptop computer, an iPhone, an iPad and a ring.

The suspects headed to a videoke bar in the same village and were arrested after the police received a complaint about the presence of armed men there.

The shop owner, Richard Tubig, later positively identified them as part of the robbery group. Malacañang had been quick to say they were not part of the close-in security detail of President Aquino.