Trigger-happy cop hunted

THE PARAÑAQUE City police have started looking for a lawman belonging to the Bacoor Municipal Police Station in Cavite.

City police chief Superintendent Nestor Pastoral Sunday ordered a manhunt for Senior Police Officer 2 Sammy Paneda after he fired his gun indiscriminately at around 3 p.m on Black Saturday in front of his house at the Lorenzana Compound in Barangay (village) San Dionisio, Parañaque City.

One of the bullets struck the leg of a 16-year-old boy who lived in the compound. Another boy aged 14 was also nicked in the neck by another bullet.

Both teenagers were just walking inside the compound when they were hit.

They were taken to Florencio Bernabe Sr. Memorial Hospital where they were treated and discharged four hours later.

The parents of the boys said they would consider an amicable settlement with the policeman should he shoulder their hospital bills.

But despite this, Pastoral was adamant. “He should face the consequences,” he said of Paneda.

He added that based on the investigation conducted by his men, Paneda was drunk when he took out his gun and fired it indiscriminately.

Pastoral said Police National Police chief Director General Raul Bacalzo had also ordered him to look for Paneda.

According to the information he received, Pastoral said Paneda was assigned to the Bacoor police although he lived in Parañaque City.

He told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that intelligence and Special Weapons and Tactics operatives began looking for Paneda on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, Paneda’s wife, Dolores, told Pastoral that she had not seen her husband since the shooting. She also claimed that he had not replied to any of her phone calls and text messages.

Her husband, she added, has been in the service for 25 years and is set to retire in July this year. “He has a good track record,” she said.

However, Pastoral told her: “There is no track record to speak of when you made a mistake. He must face this complaint. When he’s hiding, how can his side be heard?”

Bacoor police head, Chief Superintendent Edgar Roquero, said there was a possibility that Paneda would surrender soon as they were in negotiations with his family.