By Jeffrey Damicog
Government prosecutors have approved the filing of a direct assault charge against a Chinese woman who splashed taho (soya drink) at a policeman over the weekend.
In an inquest-resolution issued by the Office of the City Prosecutor of Mandaluyong City and a copy of which was furnished to the Department of Justice (DOJ), government prosecutors recommended that Chinese national Jiale Zhang, 23, be indicted with direct assault of an agent in authority under Article 148 of the Revised Penal Code.
“Probable cause exists to indict respondent with direct assault,” read the inquest resolution, signed by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Leynard Dumlao and approved by City Prosecutor Bernabe Augustus Solis.
Chinese Jiale Zhang, 23, was arrested after throwing taho at Police Officer 1 William Cristobal at Metro Rail Transit Line 3 Boni Station in Mandaluyong City (Photo by National Capital Region Police Office / MANILA BULLETIN)
The case stemmed from an incident last Saturday at the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT 3) station in Mandaluyong City which was even caught on video and went viral on social media.
Zhang, a fashion student, was stopped at the MRT 3 station in Mandaluyong City for carrying a cup of taho and was told to consume it before being allowed entry.
Instead of following the order, Zhang splahsed the soya drink at PO1 William Cristobal who approached her and tried explaining why she can’t bring the inside the station.
“Simply put, respondent’s unwarranted act is an abrasive affront against an officer in uniform representing a national institution,” government prosecutors stated.
They explained that under the crime of direct assault against an agent of a person in authority “the assault and force employed must be serious in character as to indicate respondent’s determination to defy the law and its representative at all hazards.”
“Indeed, the throwing of the cup of ‘taho’ to complainant, then in uniform, is considered deliberate and serious defiance to a police officer who was performing his duties at that time,” they stressed.
“It is offensive both by legal and moral norm considering that there was no provocation on the part of the police officers,” it added.
On the other hand, prosecutors said the disobedience complaint against her under paragraph 2 of Article 151 of the RPC has been dismissed “considering that the same is a necessary consequence of the assault.”
They also dismissed the unjust vexation complaint against her since it is “deemed absorbed in direct assault.”