Kapitan assaults fiscal
ANOTHER ‘SHOTGUN’ ABUSE
LINGAYEN—The barangay chairman of Barangay Poblacion in Labrador town has been arrested and charged for direct assault and illegal possession of firearm after he threatened a prosecutor and a security guard with his government-issued shotgun inside the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office at the Justice Hall here.
Chief Inspector Larry Toledo, officer-in-charge police chief here, told The PUNCH that Barangay Kapitan Noel Vinoya was arrested by responding policeman after he allegedly pointed the shotgun threateningly at Prosecutor Nicolas Reintar and an unidentified security guard inside the Justice Hall.
Toledo said Vinoya was arrested and is detained at the police detention cell here after a hot pursuit.
The barangay official tried to elude arrest aboard by driving off in the barangay’s patrol car but the police caught up with him.
Senior Supt. Percival Barba, police provincial director, in a later interview with The PUNCH, stressed that incidents of the misuse of these firearms by the barangay officials remain “very negligible” compared to the advantages that the province gained from its issuance.
He said the shotguns were requested by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and were later issued to the 1,300 barangay chairmen across Pangasinan, ostensibly for the maintenance of peace and order in their barangays.
He admitted, however, that barangay officials are not authorized to bring the issued shotguns outside their barangays unless they are in a hot pursuit of suspects who escape to neighboring areas.
Reintar declined to be interviewed when The PUNCH visited him in his office Wednesday for his reaction.
Vinoya and Reintar were reportedly arguing inside along a corridor inside the Justice Hall before the incident happened.
According to a witness, Vinoya was reportedly angry with Reintar over a case involving him handled by the latter.
When Reintar entered his office, Vinoya left and returned bringing with the shotgun he took from his vehicle parked inside the compound of the Justice Hall.
Vinoya then barged inside Reintar’s office and poked the shotgun at the prosecutor and the guard inside the office.
After the incident, security has been tightened in the area and vehicles of non-court employees are no longer allowed to be parked inside the Justice Hall compound.#
A POLICE RESPONSILITY
Meanwhile Gov. Amado Espino Jr. said on Friday that the provincial government already yielded its authority over the shotguns to the provincial police, who in turn distributed the shotguns to the barangay chairmen.
In an interview with The PUNCH, he said the authority over those shotguns now rests on the police, saying that the only participation of the province was to provide the funds to buy the shotguns.
The governor said “let the course of justice prevail” in Vinoya’s case.
Espino said it was unfair of local media to blame him when the role of the provincial government was merely to purchase the shotguns at the request of the police.
“Hindi kami na ang nagbigay niyan. Kung sino man ang may hawak niyan, ang nagbigay diyan ay ang mga pulis natin. Kami lang ang nagbigay niyan sa pulis natin,” Espino clarified.
The governor cited the memorandum of agreement he signed with the PNP on the distribution and responsibility over the use of the shotguns.
He said he has directed Provincial Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued to help the police file administrative charges against the offending barangay captains.
He added he would direct the police to recall the shotgun from any barangay chairman who is the object of a complaint by barangay residents for the shotgun’s misuse. –LM
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