Barangay councilman accused of grave threats

A Caloocan City barangay councilman went into hiding after three residents, two of them minors, accused him of grave threats for allegedly threatening to shoot them with his handgun last Saturday while they were in the barangay hall.

Chief Inspector Jose Ramirez Valencia, chief of Caloocan City police Station Investigation and Detective Management Branch, identified the suspect as Mamerto Rubio, councilman of Barangay 186 in Tala.

At around 10:20 p.m., Rubio reportedly confronted Mar Bagasala, 21, and two minors about a previous street row in their area.

But Rubio, armed with a handgun, reportedly threatened to shoot Bagasala and the two boys and even fired once in the air at the height of the confrontation.

The councilman fled after the incident and remains at large.

Police recovered at the barangay hall’s stairway a deformed slug for an unknown caliber of handgun.

Senior Police Officer 1 Isabel Gracilla of the Caloocan City police Women and Children’s Concern Desk-North Extension Office said charges of grave threats and indiscriminate firing of a firearm will be filed against Rubio. – Pete Laude