Manila policemen arrested before dawn Monday a colleague and a member of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) who allegedly fired his gun indiscriminately and brandished it in front of two persons, including a teenager, whom he accused of robbing him.
Operatives of the Manila Police District (MPD) Pandacan Station 10 picked up Police Officer 2 Winston Banglag, 33, a member of the Special Action Force assigned with the PSG, after he allegedly fired his 9-mm service pistol and pointed it at two persons: Michael Quitoriano, 18; and tricycle driver Erwin Maglalang, 28.
The police then turned Banglag over to the MPD General Assignment Section for investigation.
Case investigator PO3 Donald Panaligan said that witnesses reported a commotion at around 1:15 a.m. Monday at the corner of Dr. Carreon and De las Alas streets in Pandacan.
Panaligan revealed that minutes before, Banglag claimed that he was held up somewhere in the area and he wanted to go after the robber.
According to the police, the PSG man fired a warning shot and accosted Quitoriano at gunpoint. Upon making sure that the teenager was not the person who robbed him, Banglag proceeded to a tricycle terminal and questioned Maglalang, still brandishing his firearm.
The PSG man was arrested by members of the MPD Station 10 while he was still trying to identify the person who reportedly robbed him.
“He [Banglag] could not even say in what street he was robbed and said that his cash was taken by the robber but his other belongings, including his gun, remained intact,” the policeman Panaligan said.
Panaligan added that a medical examination showed that the Banglag was drunk at the time of his arrest.