Name-dropper arrested in Quezon City

MANILA, Philippines—A 22-year-old motorcycle rider flagged down by policemen in Quezon City on Thursday for a simple traffic violation ended up behind bars even though he tried to bluff his way out of the mess by claiming to be the nephew of a police official.

Christian Canlapan, a resident of Abra Street in Barangay (village) Ramon Magsaysay, Bago Bantay, was charged with drunk driving and driving without a helmet. According to Masambong police station commander Supt. Pedro Sanchez, his men Police Officers 1 Rochar Roldan and Edison Guillermo were on patrol around 12:30 a.m. on Ilocos Norte Street in Bago Bantay when they spotted a motorcycle rider, later identified as Canlapan, having problems controlling his bike. He was also driving without a helmet.

Sanchez said the policemen stopped Canlapan and asked him to present his driver’s license and registration papers for the motorcycle. But when Canlapan handed the documents over, he allegedly told Roldan: “Why are you accosting me? What is my violation? Don’t you know I’m General Laciste’s nephew?” He was apparently referring to Chief Supt. Federico Laciste, the deputy chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Southern Luzon.

The policemen responded by telling Canlapan that being a police general’s relative did not exempt him from following the law. He was then taken to the Masambong police station. “He (Canlapan) was drunk. He was brought here to prevent him from being in or causing an accident. When he was on his motorcycle, he was visibly unsteady and zigzagging on the road which is very dangerous,” Sanchez said.—Jeannette I. Andrade