Screengrabs from a video made public on Facebook show three men firing guns during the New Year’s Day revelry.
NARVACAN, Ilocos Sur—-Police here on Monday filed a complaint for alarm and scandal against eight men who fired guns during the New Year’s eve celebration in Barangay San Antonio in this town.
Senior Supt. Nestor Felix, Ilocos Sur police director, said the complaints were filed shortly before noon at the Narvacan municipal circuit trial court.
Felix said the local police are waiting for the court to issue arrest warrants before they take Cezar Lutchina Funtanilla, R-Jay Cabana, Jumar Cabreros, Ian Christopher Calixterio, Russel
Funtanilla, Geronimo Gomez, Philip Andrew Funtanilla and Mark Cabana into custody.
The suspects were identified after Philip Andrew Funtanilla, using the name Drew Funtanilla, uploaded a video on Facebook on Saturday showing all of them alternately firing an Armalite rifle and a .45 cal. pistol on New Year’s eve.
The video, which went viral, outraged netizens, who asked the police for immediate action.
Felix said their information on Monday showed that the suspects were still in the town.
“If they run away, then that will mean they are guilty,” Felix said.
He said policemen visited San Antonio village on Saturday afternoon to investigate and identify the suspects shown on the video.
In a local radio interview on Monday, Darius Comiso, village chief of San Antonio, said the suspects have not been seen in their community since Sunday night, citing reports from barangay tanod (village guards) who went around the neighborhood.
Information received by the INQUIRER also showed that one of the suspects is a son of a policeman.
Felix said that while there were firecracker-related injuries in Ilocos Sur, no one was reported hit by stray bullets during the New Year revelry.