Chef beats up coworker who ate a piece of ‘chicharon’

A waitress and assistant chef at a Parañaque City eatery was beaten up and pinned to the ground by a furious chef on Monday night — all because she had taken a piece of “chicharon” (pork crackling) from the kitchen table.

The police are now preparing a criminal case against the chef, Chinese national Wang Yongbin, 27, for the brief, bizarre turn of events that left Rutchel Taer, 32, with chest injuries, said Senior Insp. Jerry Sunga, chief investigator of the Parañaque police.

Sunga told the Inquirer on Tuesday that after questioning Wang, who claimed to have been in the country for a year, it was revealed that he did not have a working visa or even a passport.

Language barrier

“It’s difficult to get information from him because of the language barrier,” said Sunga, who added that Wang’s employer has yet to coordinate with them.

According to a report to the Southern Police District, the assault began at 7:40 p.m. on Monday in the kitchen of Reyes Eatery, on Quirino Avenue in Parañaque City.

The report said that Taer, who was both a waitress and assistant chef, “took and ate one piece of chicharon from the table [which] made the offender angry.”

Violent reaction

Wang punched Taer and pinned her down on the floor until coworkers came to her rescue and restrained the suspect, the report added.

Wang was later arrested after Taer filed a complaint with the police.

He would be charged in the Parañaque City Prosecutor’s Office with slight physical injuries, which is punishable by up to 30 days in prison.