Malabon man jailed for firing in the rain

Boredom at the height of the monsoon rains sucked in by Typhoon Glenda prompted a young man to get out of the house in the middle of the night and get a high by firing his gun at will in a bid to make sense of his life yesterday in Malabon City.

PO1 Rommel Habig, officer-on-case, said Erwin Beguiras, 23, a printing press worker from Barangay Potrero in Malabon, got his fix, but was arrested on a complaint phoned in by a concerned resident at 3:35 a.m. yesterday.

Probers were half-amused and a bit bewildered by the suspect’s behavior.

They said Beguiras, when collared, was neither intoxicated nor appeared to be in a fit of dementia. The suspect would not tell anyone why he fired his gun indiscriminately along the MacArthur Highway.

The suspect was arrested by the local Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT) of PO1 Alfredo Mendez, supervisor, and Barangay Tanod Executive Officer Henry Ranay.

Seized from Beguiras was an unlicensed snub-nosed caliber .38 revolver.

The suspect vehemently denied the gun was his but, nevertheless, was booked for illegal possession of a firearm and for indiscriminate firing. — Jerry Botial