Penini's neighbors rally behind SWAT

MANILA, Philippines - The two personnel of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) who are being investigated for hitting a Papua New Guinean got an ally in the residents of Bonggo Compound, Barangay Banilad.

Johanna Salvado, along with close to 10 neighbors, will execute affidavit that PO2 Bradford Lavandero and PO1 Phillip James Tanza of SWAT team are their “heroes” while the foreigner, Bennidict Penini, “posed risk to their lives.”

“The Papua New Guineans (PNGs) residing in Alicia Towers Residences near us posed a big threat to all of us. The incident last Sunday was just one of the many incidents happening in our community since these PNGs came,” Salvado said.

She revealed that Penini and his fellow PNGs residing in Alicia would start shouting and chasing each other after their drinking sessions in the streets that last from nighttime until morning.

Last Sunday, Salvado said she was supposed to hear Mass with her kids but could not get outside their house because Penini went wild again.

After failing to respond to their calls of assistance earlier, Salvado said police finally came to arrest Penini last Sunday.

Sensing that the first responding policemen could not handle the situation as Penini was holding a rock, the help of a SWAT team was sought.

“The SWAT team members were very prompt. They were just standing behind Penini but this PNG guy suddenly approached an innocent taxi driver and hit him in the face with a rock,” Salvado further narrated.

This, she said, prompted the SWAT men to hit Penini as he was already “uncontrollable” and “really violent.”

“We commend the SWAT members and all those who responded because our lives could have been at risk if not for them. We need protectors like the SWAT team members,” Salvado said, seconded by her neighbors.

Things could have not been this way, Salvado said, if not for the “inaccurate footage” shown on television.

“The footage created so much problem that it only showed the so-called mauling incident. The footage was very limited. It was not balanced. It remodeled the truth. Had the video covered the entire situation, the people would understand what prompted the SWAT team members to do it,” the emphatic resident said.

Salvado also criticized the Commission on Human Rights for “defending” Penini.

“To CHR, it would have been better if you were here during the incident to keep your mouth shut. And here you are, defending our offender that put us all in danger,” she said, saying that residents feel betrayed that the foreigners were behaving badly are treated well.

The residents called on the owner of Alicia Towers Residences to choose their tenants and discipline them.

“We hope you will understand our side. We hope that these two young SWAT team members be returned back to their posts, otherwise people in this country will never believe you. We ought to be given priorities because we are Filipinos, not the foreigners, not the disrespectful foreigners,” she said.

The 45-year-old Banilad resident went to the office of the Investigation and Detective Management Branch (IDMB) of the Cebu City Police Office yesterday to execute an affidavit.

Chief Insp. Bonifacio Garciano said they will evaluate the statements of Salvado and her neighbors.

Garciano is part of the joint team of the Regional Internal Affairs Service 7 (RIAS) and the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division of the Police Regional Office 7 tasked to conduct a motu proprio investigation on the incident.

The national headquarters of the Philippine National Police has ordered PRO 7 to conduct the said investigation even without a complainant.

Penini has flown back to his country and will talk with his parents about the incident to study their next move. —(FREEMAN)