Port security says he was punched by police official; Ualat says guard ‘is lying’

Who’s being abusive?

A security guard claimed he was mauled twice by a police official while he was on duty at a Cebu City port terminal last Oct. 24.

Ferlito Ompad of the GDS Security Agency then alleged that Senior Supt. Orlando Ualat punched him in a police office office the following day.

Ualat denied Ompad’s allegations, as he accused the guard of acting arrogantly toward him.

Ualat, a former Mandaue City police chief, is assigned at the logistics division of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).

In an interview, Ompad claimed that Ualat shoved a terminal ticket in his mouth after he asked one from the police officer, who fetched his wife to the port area at the time.

He recounted that Ualat stopped by the ticket booth with his wife in tow.

He said Ualat was about to escort her inside the terminal when he asked the police official if he had a terminal ticket.

Ompad said Ualat introduced himself as a police officer and appeared to expect to get in, but he advised him to get a ticket instead.

He said Ualat was infuriated and asked him for his firearm license before going to the booth to buy a ticket.

“I was just doing my job because that’s what was told by my superiors. A Coast Guard officer was in the area and it would be not be right if I allowed him to enter the area,” Ompad said in Cebuano.

He said Ualat came back for him and allegedly shoved a ticket in his mouth.

The police officer then boarded his multicab vehicle and sped away, bumping into the gate.

GDS Security Agency Detachment Commander Riel Culango said Benjamin Sun, the agency’s owner, advised Ompad to settle his “concern” with Ualat in the Firearms Explosives Security Agencies and Guards Supervision (FESAGS) office.

Ompad said he waited for Ualat’s arrival and saluted him when he came into his office.

In response, Ompad said Ualat allegedly punched him in the stomach in front of Supt. Rex Derilo, FESSAGS chief.

Ompad said he was glad that his agency is supporting him in filing administrative charges against Ualat before the National Police Commission (Napolcom).

He said he will also elevate his case to the Ombudsman-Visayas.

Culango said he advised Ompad to undergo a medical checkup and examination after the guard was absent from Oct. 25 to 26.

“I advised him to go the Ombudsman or to the Napolcom. We will support him in pursuing the complaint,” Culango confirmed.

He said Ompad worked in their agency for more than two years.

Ompad, a native of Olango Island, worked in Cebu City as a security guard in Pier 1.

In a separate interview, Derilo said Ualat filed a complaint against Ompad last Oct. 25.

He said Ualat told him that Ompad was “arrogant, discourteous, impolite and impatient” when he talked with him.

“I won’t agree to anyone punching someone in front of me,” Derilo said.

Ualat denied the accusations, saying Ompad inconvenienced him, his wife and his three sisters-in-law whom he brought to the pier area at the time.

“While my wife searched for a terminal ticket, I explained to him that I am a police official and showed him my ID card. He brushed me aside and said he was looking for the terminal ticket,” Ualat said.

Ualat also denied that he shoved the terminal ticket in Ompad’s mouth.

“He’s a liar.  I have the terminal ticket with me. I requested FESAGS to confiscate his license,” he said.

The police official said he confronted him and confiscated his license, telling him to claim it in the FESAGS office.

“I won’t beat him up in front of Derilo. He should show a medical certificate to prove his charges. He was arrogant,” Ualat said.