Reminder to cops: You are not above the law!

I met my old classmate, Narciso "Butch" Macahor Jr. during the Alta Vista View Tee Golf Tournament last Sunday and he told me about a traffic incident which should never have seen print here because we don't make a habit of reporting traffic incidents. However this story is quite a disturbing. I know our authorities and readers ought to be warned.

Around 2:30 AM last June 18, 2006, Michelle Cortel, daughter of Butch was driving her Honda Civic with plate no. YCU-890 headed for home after a night out with her husband Boni Ian and their friends. In the middle of the flyover along Escario St. and Arch. Reyes Ave. near the Ayala Center, a car was weaving along the middle of the road hurling towards them on their lane. With the flyover so narrow, she stopped her car but still, the oncoming car ended up sideswiping them, hitting the side mirror of both cars.

The driver of the offending vehicle didn't care to stop, because the driver was probably too drunk to realize what he had done. Michelle, made a hasty U-turn and chased the hit-and-run vehicle, which they caught along the corner of Country Mall. They tried talking to the driver, but he refused to acknowledge them. Finally, they got alongside this vehicle at the intersection of Foodland and finally the driver agreed to stop at the next corner.

The hit-and-run vehicle was a Kia Avella with plate no. GPK-910 and was driven by SPO1 Eriberto Dacalos Jr. who told them that he was with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) but denied sideswiping them. While they were still arguing, another vehicle, a Pajero, stopped almost in the middle of the road and another policeman who was later identified as SP01 Delfin Bontuyan got out to help his fellow policeman. Now the two of them insisted that this problem could be solved if they went to the CIDG office. Let me remind you that this was already Sunday and take note, both of them were probably drunk!

Since it was a traffic incident they wanted help from CITOM, so their friends went to the Caltex Star Mart to call CITOM, leaving Michelle with a couple of friends with the two policemen in that dark corner. All of the sudden, a shot was fired in the air. Suddenly, SP01 Dacalos pointed his gun at the very scared Michelle and frisked her body for any hidden weapons. Obviously, he didn't find anything on her. Her companion was also frisked.

What I can see in this story is that the CIDG men were trying to get out of their ticklish situation and turn things around believing that these people would leave them alone because they were policemen. But because telling them that they were policemen didn't get them off the hook, they now created a scenario, frisking them for weapons or perhaps hoping that they might find something illegal in the possession of Michelle. But these are straight people and nothing illegal was found in their person.

It was then that another police vehicle arrived and the policemen went down to talk with the two policemen who where still displaying their weapons in public view and eventually suggested that they all go to the CITOM office. Michelle agreed. But strangely, SP01 Dacalos and Bontuyan did not follow them to the CITOM office nor have they appeared as of this writing. Somehow a GMA TV crew arrived on the scene in Foodland and interviewed Michelle so this story was probably already broadcasted by GMA-7.

I'm writing this piece because we have always believed that policemen should never abuse their authority, especially when they are involved in traffic incidents because they are not above the law. Our citizenry are already wary of a lot of summary killings where 165 people have already been killed supposedly by vigilantes or policemen; hence, incidents like this one should be avoided at all cost. But then, can we blame Michelle for being sideswiped?

Because this happened at the Foodland intersection, it reminded me of another celebrated incident that happened last Dec.13, 2002 when operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) including card bearing "agents" got themselves involved in a near massacre of people who worked in Plantation Bay who came from a birthday party. All that was needed was for the NBI to apologize for the mistaken identity. But in the end, they tried to cover their misdeeds, which is an obstruction to justice, a crime in this country! So what do we have with these CIDG policemen? I suggested to Mr. Macahor that they file the necessary case for this hit-and-run incident to warn other policemen that they are not above the law!

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