By JEL SANTOS
A traffic aide was fired by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority for beating up his wife and son.
MMDA Traffic Aide 1 Roel Gatos was fired after videos showing him punching his wife and child went viral on social media.
Assistant Secretary Celine Pialago, MMDA spokesperson, said Gatos dragged the name of the agency through the mud because of what he did.
“The domestic violence which became trending in the social media tarnished the reputation of the agency in which he was identified as an aide of MMDA,” she said.
According to Pialago, Gatos was charged for disgraceful and immoral conduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of MMDA.
Pialago said that Gatos was already arrested and detained by policemen for beating his wife and 11-year-old child.
Both incidents were videoed using a phone camera.
The domestic violence reportedly took place at their house in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan.
The MMDA has sent groceries to the wife and children of Gatos to help them during the health crisis.
MAN BEATS STEPSON
TO DEATH IN CEBU
A man was arrested for allegedly beating his nine-year-old stepson to death in Cebu City last Monday afternoon.
Police apprehended Rodante Dacallo while he was about to escape last Tuesday afternoon.
Police also arrested the boy’s mother for allegedly trying to cover up the incident and defending the suspect.
Police Major Jonathan Bethoveen Taneo, chief of the Talamban police station, said the incident happened in the family’s house in Barangay Bacayan.
Police said the suspect asked the boy to run an errand but got irked when the boy did not act on his command.
The suspect allegedly beat up the victim using a broomstick.
The beating rendered the boy unconscious. He was rushed to the Cebu City Medical Center where he died last Tuesday afternoon.
Police said the boy suffered fractured bones and internal hemorrhage.
Police received a tip that the suspect left home in a bid to escape.
Pursuing policemen caught the man in a waiting shed on N. Bacalso Ave. where the Cebu South Bus Terminal is located.
According to some neighbors, it was not the first time that the suspect had beaten up the boy.
Police said a homicide case will be filed against the man while the boy’s mother will also be charged with obstruction of justice. (Calvin D. Cordova)
