Raps eyed vs Bulacan mayor, mom

By: Jaymee T. Gamil - 10 years ago

Mayor Patrick Meneses INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Bulacan town mayor Patrick Meneses and his mother, Priscilla, may be accused of obstruction of justice should they continue to refuse police invitations to shed light on a harrowing ‘‘road rage” incident involving their vehicles last week in Quezon City.

On Oct. 27, a Land Cruiser and an Innova belonging to the Meneses family were reported to be involved in a road rage incident with the family of UP law professor Elizabeth Pangalangan on Congressional Avenue in Barangay Pasong Tamo. A male passenger on the Innova, which was tailing the Land Cruiser, later got off the car, hurled invectives at Miguel Enrico, who was driving the Pangalangans’ Fortuner, and pulled a gun on the family.

The Pangalangans believe the unidentified gun-wielding man was a security escort of the passengers in the Land Cruiser.

But more than a week after the incident and despite the identification of the vehicles as those of the Meneses family, the identity of the gun-toting man remains a mystery.

Obstruction of justice

Elizabeth’s husband, Inquirer publisher Raul Pangalangan, said they were now considering filing obstruction of justice complaints against the mayor and his mother.

‘‘They should just reveal who the persons in the Innova were. They should cooperate with the search. They shouldn’t hide them,” Pangalangan said in an interview on Thursday.

Not involved

In an interview with the Inquirer last week, Priscilla Meneses admitted to her family’s ownership of the vehicles but denied that she and her son were involved in the traffic altercation.

Priscilla said she had sent her driver Joel Piñon on an errand in Manila that day but denied he had security escorts with him.

Meneses himself released a statement denying involvement in the traffic incident but was also mum on the identity of those who used their family’s cars that day.

Yesterday, the Pangalangan family went to Camp Karingal to identify the suspects in a police lineup. The lineup included a police escort assigned to Priscilla and two Bulacan policemen assigned to the Bulacan mayor.

But the Pangalangans said the gun wielder was not in the lineup.

The Pangalangans had already filed a complaint at the National Bureau of Investigation against the Meneses mother and son, Piñon and several John Does.