In this file photo, taken Dec. 22, 2104, police officers show their pistols that were taped at the muzzle at Camp Crame in Quezon City on Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. Police were ordered to have their firearms taped and signed by their leaders to prevent them from firing during the Christmas and New Year revelry. Firing of guns in the air during the celebrations has led to numerous deaths from stray bullets in the past. (Photo from AP)
PO1 Daniel Castillo may have been sober when he started his duty at 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve by patrolling the stretch of Benita Street in Tondo, Manila.
Before midnight, however, the “friendly” rookie policeman was “dead drunk,” having accepted all invitations from residents for him to have a drink.
But it was only when he started firing his 9mm service firearm into the air that they became scared.
“He was so friendly that every time someone asked him to drink, he would drink. That’s why he got drunk and started firing his gun. He was very drunk,” said Chief Insp. Arsenio Riparip, head of the Manila Police District’s General Assignment and Investigation Section (MPD-GAIS), which is probing Castillo’s case.
According to Riparip, Castillo was so intoxicated that he was not even aware of it when his colleagues disarmed and arrested him on Dec. 31.
They took him to the MPD-GAIS, which placed him under custody. He was subsequently charged with alarm and scandal in the city prosecutor’s office on top of an administrative case.
Earlier, Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa warned that he would “show no mercy” to people caught firing guns indiscriminately on New Year’s Eve, especially policemen.
This year, the PNP broke for the first time in a decade its tradition of sealing the muzzles of policemen’s firearms to show that they were responsible and disciplined.
Castillo, who joined the police force in 2014, was assigned to the Gagalangin, Tondo Police Community Precinct. He was tasked to patrol the stretch of Benita Street in the Gagalangin area on New Year’s Eve.
Along with other colleagues before they went on duty from
5 p.m. on Dec. 31 to 5 a.m. the following day, he was warned by his superior officers: “No one is to fire a gun.”
Riparip said this was a “strict” order not only from Dela Rosa but MPD Director Senior Supt. Joel Coronel as well.
While on patrol, however, Castillo reportedly “accepted every drink offered to him, from beer to brandy,” Riparip added.
At 11:56 p.m., he started “firing shots in the air while walking on the street.”
“He fired so many shots. After he finished off a magazine, he reloaded his firearm,” Riparip said.
All in all, they estimated that he might have fired 13 times. Fortunately, no one was reported hurt in the incident.