Raps eyed vs uploader of traffic jam video

MANILA, Philippines — Police are eyeing criminal complaints against a man suspected to be responsible for a video that showed motorists at a standstill along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, allegedly due to the convoy of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Lt. Col. May Genio, commander of the Holy Spirit police station, identified the person as Janus Munar, whom she described as a staunch critic of Duterte, based on his Facebook posts.

“We are baffled why he was in the middle of the road and trying to agitate the motorists,” Genio said in Filipino during an interview over Radyo 630 dwPM.

Genio said they are eyeing a cybercrime complaint against Munar but clarified that an investigation is still ongoing.

Sought for comment, Munar vehemently denied that he was the one who took a video of the traffic along Commonwealth Avenue and approached a policeman who said they stopped the traffic to give way to Duterte.

“I am not the one who took the video and I am not in any way related to the one who took it,” Munar told The STAR.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Munar said the video was only sent by a friend through Facebook Messenger.

“As a concerned citizen, I posted it because I want the public to know that to stop the traffic for a VIP to cross is a little excessive,” Munar said.

The policeman in the video who temporarily stopped traffic along Commonwealth Avenue for the Vice President, Executive M/Sgt. Verdo Pantollano, was relieved from his post and is under investigation for possible administrative liabilities.

Genio said Pantollano “misheard” that it was Duterte’s convoy they were securing, which he relayed to the uploader of the video who asked for the VIP’s identity.

Quezon City Police District director Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan yesterday apologized to Duterte for the incident.