BY AARON RECUENCO
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has ordered an investigation on the alleged assault on a female Grab driver by a police captain in Taguig City on Tuesday.
PNP spokesman Col. Ysmael Yu said the chief of police of Pateros was already instructed to conduct an impartial investigation on the incident since the policeman involved, Police Captain Ronald Saquilayan, is one of his men.
“The Chief of Police of Pateros has the discretion to conduct an investigation. I believe that this is already being looked into at the Pateros police station level,” Yu said in a phone interview.
In her Facebook post, victim Floreanne Rivera said that she was about to pick up a passenger at the drop off point of a popular coffee shop in Taguig City but the driveway was blocked by a pick-up truck.
She flashed the headlight and honked several times but the driver of the car would not move the vehicle. She also knocked on the windshield of the vehicle but still, the driver would not reportedly budge.
She then sought the assistance of a security guard who helped her knock on the windshield of the car to ask the driver to move.
But the driver allegedly opened the car door “suddenly and forcefully” which resulted in Rivera being hit and thrown to the bushes along the driveway. Angered by what the driver did, Rivera allegedly got up and slapped him.
It turned out the driver of the pick-up is a policeman, who later identified himself as Police Captain Ronald Saquilayan.
Saquilayan then arrested Rivera for allegedly assaulting a police officer. She was then taken to the nearby police station where she was detained and slapped with charges.
The police station where the Grab driver was taken was also accused of siding with the police captain.
Netizens immediately condemned the incident and criticized the PNP for abuse of authority. (Aaron Recuenco)
