Southern Police District (SPD) chief Brig. General Emmanuel Peralta has cleared a police captain of Pateros of any wrongdoing in the alleged assault of a female Grab driver on Oct. 6 outside a mall in Taguig.
In a Facebook post on the night of Oct. 6, Mary Florence Norial, under the account name Floreanne Rivera, said she was attacked by Police Captain Ronald Saquilayan, who is assigned at the Pateros Municipal Police Station.
Norial said she was at the Bgy. Ususan Police Station and “gusto po ako ikulong.”
She narrated that she picked up a passenger at Starbucks outlet (in Ususan) but a vehicle, driven by Saquilayan, was blocking the driveway.
“Naka 20mins n ata kmi nag hihitay ng pasahero. Nakiusap na dn security guard at manager ng SB pero ayaw umalis hanggang sa itinulak ako ng sundalo gamit yung car door nya at nasubsob ako sa bushes,” Norial said.
She added that she slapped him as self-defense but he accused her of hurting him and pushed her against the glass window of the Starbucks outlet. Norial was arrested by the police for alarm and scandal, and direct assault.
Her case was discussed Friday during a press briefing by Peralta.
Peralta said CCTV footage proved that Norial assaulted Saquilayan. The footage, provided by a citizen, showed Norial was the one who assaulted the police officer at about 7:20 p.m. last Oct. 6.
According to Peralta, Norial, on board a Hyundai Accent car, arrived at the Starbucks driveway behind Saquilayan’s car, who was waiting in the vehicle for her daughter, who was buying something inside the coffee shop.
“Miss Norial, wanting to get ahead, came out of her car and knock rudely on the window and told Saquilayan to move his vehicle. The cop politely told her that he was also a customer but Norial insisting the Security Guard to force Saquilayan but was refused,” accordnig to Peralta’s statement.
He added, “Again Norial, shouting on top of her voice, knocked on the windows of the cop’s vehicle and telling him to leave. Saquilayan was forced to ask the help of the Security Guard and introduced himself as a police captain to Norial but the latter continued to berate him.”
“While returning to his car, Norial tried to shut his vehicle’s door and got budged by the door when finally opened by Saquilayan. Norial with her right hand hit Saquilayan in his head and ran towards the Starbucks store. Saquilayan effected the arrest and called for Substation 4 personnel for assistance,” the statement added.
Peralta said the CCTV footage shows the whole story, which contradicted “the crooked claims of Mary Florence Norial that she was the one assaulted by the cop, but the truth was that she rudely showed her undisciplined personality, disobedience to policy of 1st come 1st serve of the commercial establishment like Starbucks coffee shop and utmost disrespect to authorities even after Saquilayan has introduced himself as a police officer.”
“And worst she maliciously used the social media by posting her own footage while narrating different story lines to malign the cop Saquilayan and the whole Substation 4 personnel,” Peralta added.
