‘Bullied’ enforcer finally gets day in court

Three postponements and more than a year after the incident, the motorist who was caught on video hitting a traffic enforcer of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), was finally arraigned in court on Thursday.

Robert Blair Carabuena— whose behavior was soundly criticized by netizens who branded him a bully after the video went viral—pleaded not guilty to the charge of direct assault on an agent of a person in authority before Judge Juris Dilinila-Callanta of the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 42.

Watching the proceedings intently was the complainant, MMDA traffic constable Saturnino Fabros, who had a front-row seat inside the courtroom.

Interviewed after the arraignment, a smiling Fabros said he was glad that Carabuena had finally been arraigned. Asked if he still harbored ill feelings toward the accused a year after the incident, Fabros replied: “Not really. But I will still pursue the case against him.”

The arraignment pushed through despite an attempt by Carabuena’s lawyer, Susana Grace Ojeda, to have it moved to a later date. This was after she reminded the court that they have a pending motion that has yet to be resolved.

Earlier, the judge denied the accused’s bid to have the charges against him dropped, prompting his lawyer to file a motion for reconsideration.

Carabuena earlier contested the criminal information which accused him of attacking Fabros in August last year by hitting the MMDA officer several times with his own      hat and then slapping him.

But in an order she issued in June, the judge ruled that the criminal information was sufficient, saying, “Complainant is a traffic constable. The information sufficiently alleges that the accused knows him to be an agent of a person in authority while the latter was engaged in the actual performance of his duties. At this very early stage of the proceedings, it is [not yet known] whether such knowledge on the part of the accused is true or not. It is a matter of defense which can be threshed out only in a full-blown trial…”

In yesterday’s proceedings, the judge again junked the defense lawyer’s motion for reconsideration, saying no new argument was raised in the request which she had already thoroughly discussed in her previous order.

She likewise took into consideration the prosecution’s remark that the proceedings have been “delayed for a long period of time” as she ordered the arraignment to push through as scheduled.

The direct assault charge against Carabuena stemmed from the Aug. 11, 2012, incident which took place at the corner of Capitol Hills Drive and Katipunan Avenue in Old Balara, Quezon City.

At that time, Fabros was directing traffic and had signaled Carabuena, who was driving his car, to stop. Carabuena, however, continued to move his vehicle forward, prompting the traffic enforcer to hit the hood with his hand.

At this point, Carabuena got out of his vehicle and struck Fabros several times.

The incident was caught on a camera phone and the video was uploaded on the Web after it was featured in a public affairs program on television.