A police officer who pointed his gun and threatened two civilians due to traffic altercation in Taguig is under investigation.
The viral video spread on Facebook showing a police officer, Junel Buenaflor, pointing his gun at two Iranians in Barangay Bagumbayan in Taguig.
In the video, the police officer is heard saying, “Dapa! Papatayin ko kayo. Dapa! (Drop to the ground! I will kill you. Drop to the ground!). He kept pointing his gun at the two civilians and kicked one of them.
The police officer and the two civilians were riding motorcycles before the incident happened.
Acting Taguig police chief Col. Robert Baesa said, “Halos po magkasunod sila. Nag-signal po itong pulis, hindi po napagbigyan ng Iranian. Ang ginawa po ng backride, tinadyakan po yung pulis. (They were closely following each other. The police officer signaled but the Iranian did not allow him. The one in the backride kicked the police officer).”
Baesa said the two settled the matter, saying, “Hindi na po sila nagkasuhan, nagkasundo na po sila (They did not file charges against one another, they settled it),” News5’s “Frontline Pilipinas” reported.
However, Major Gen. Felipe Natividad, head of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said the police officer will be investigated.
“NCRPO will never condone nor tolerate any form of unlawful conduct among our personnel,” he said in a statement.
Natividad said, “In the case of the viral video circulating the social media wherein one police officer was seen pointing his gun upon two civilians and asking them to drop to the ground, thorough investigation is already being conducted to establish the fact behind this incident.”
“Initially, what we know from the initial investigation, the parties in this case had a traffic altercation and one of the two (2) civilians allegedly kicked the motorcycle of this police officer. The misunderstanding was thereafter amicably settled by the parties in their own freewill and the responding police officers assisted them to Barangay Bagumbayan for documentation of their agreement,” he said.
But Natividad said it “is not sufficient reason for a police officer to draw his weapon.”
“Guaranteed that we shall investigate this extensively and should we find any violation of laws and policies, I shall personally ensure that the person liable will face the consequences of his actions,” he said.