Army to investigate reservist tagged in fatal road rage incident

A SCREENSHOT of the footage taken by a CCTV camera shows the still unidentified driver of a red Hyundai Eon shooting cyclist Mark Vincent Garalde after a road altercation in Quiapo, Manila, on Monday night. SCREENGRAB FROM YOUTUBE

(Updated) The Philippine Army will launch an investigation on the reported reservist from their ranks who allegedly killed a bicycle rider in Quiapo on Monday night.

Army chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Ano confirmed on Wednesday that the suspect is an Army reservist with a rank of a Private, identified as Vhon Tanto. He is assigned with 1301st Community Defense Center, NCR Regional Community Defense Group of the Army Reserve Command based in Caloocan.

READ: Army reservist tagged in deadly shooting of biker

“The Philippine Army leadership has directed ARESCOM to conduct an immediate investigation of the subject who is currently at large, and ARESCOM is exhausting all means to locate him,” he said.

He said that the Army will cooperate with all investigating bodies regarding the case. If proven guilty, appropriate sanctions will be imposed.

Meanwhile, Army spokesperson Col. Benjamin Hao explained that Tanto won’t be covered by court martial as he is not on active duty.

He also clarified that service firearms are not issued to reservists like Tanto.

READ: Driver shoots biker dead after Manila fist fight

The CCTV footage of the incident–a car driver shooting a bicycle rider after a fistfight in one of Quiapo’s streets–had gone viral in social media. JE