By Martin A. Sadongdong
A police officer who confronted a jeepney driver over a traffic violation in Marikina City was relieved by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) yesterday after a video of the incident went viral on social media.
Police Officer 1 Bernard Cantre, assigned to the Eastern Police District (EPD) Mobile Force Battalion, was relieved from his post upon the orders of NCRPO Director Camilo Pancratius Cascolan due to misdemeanor and conduct unbecoming.
The relief came after a viral video of Cantre emerged on Facebook apparently confronting a jeepney driver whose identity was not revealed by the police.
The video was posted by a certain Vanessa Mia Fabia Lusanta last Friday.
According to the viral post, the cop, who turned out to be Cantre, was travelling with his wife onboard a motorcycle around 10 a.m. Friday when he confronted a jeepney driver upon reaching a stoplight in Barangay Parang.
The post added that Cantre alighted from the motorcycle and started shouting and cursing at the shocked driver, whom he accused of counterflowing. The cop claimed that his wife was pregnant and they were nearly hit by the driver.
The driver was described to be apologetic but the cop demanded his driver’s license.
The post claimed that the cop even threatened the driver to shoot him if he would not give his license.
However, the jeepney driver couldn’t present his license because he said he was earlier apprehended over a traffic violation. Instead, he gave the traffic violation receipt (TVR) to the angry cop.
Cantre then boarded the motorcycle and drove towards a grocery store not faraway from where the confrontation happened.
Several passengers then reported the incident to the nearby baranggay hall, where officials invited Cantre for questioning. At the baranggay hall, Cantre introduced himself as a cop and said that he should be respected.
The post garnered over 12,000 reactions, 12,000 comments and 25,000 shares as of writing.