Ilocos Sur town police chief axed over shooting frenzy
TUGUEGARAO CITY – The police chief of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur was relieved following the public outcry over the shooting frenzy of some residents photographed indiscriminately firing their guns during the New Year’s Eve revelry.
Senior Superintendent Feliciano Gubatan, Ilocos Sur assistant police director, said that the relief of Chief Inspector Rex Buyucan has nothing to do with the recent controversy over the indiscriminate firing.
“Buyucan’s relief is overdue; his supposed schooling schedule should have commenced last month,” Gubatan told The STAR.
The photographs of the Narvacan residents firing their guns were posted on the social media website Facebook and went viral.
In the relief order dated Jan. 5, Ilocos Sur police director Senior Superintendent Nestor Felix designated Senior Inspector Jerome Sinugo as officer- in- charge of Narvacan police station.
As this developed, police authorities searched last Tuesday the houses of two of those accused in the shooting frenzy in Barangay San Antonio in Narvacan.
Police raided the residences of Cezar Funtanilla and Geronimo Gomez, who allegedly fired rifles and pistols during the New Year celebration, but no guns were found in the two houses.
The operation was conducted after Vigan City Regional Trial Court Judge Marita Balloguing issued a search warrant.
The Narvacan police earlier filed alarm and scandal charges against Funtanilla, Gomez, Christopher Calixterio, Russel Funtanilla, Mark RJ Cabana, Mark Cachola, Jumar Cabreros and Philip Andrew Funtanilla, who allegedly owned the Facebook account that carried the photos of the shooting frenzy.
Gubatan also denied earlier media reports of the relief of the entire police force of Narvacan after local policemen failed to investigate the incident even after the photos of the suspects went viral on the Internet.
Meanwhile, Southern Mindanao Regional Police Office director Chief Superintendent Wendy Rosario said a policeman assigned in Compostela Valley is facing charges and had been taken into custody for allegedly indiscriminately firing his gun last New Year’s Eve.
Rosario further said the policeman’s identity was withheld pending the filing of criminal and administrative charges against him.
“When it happened I immediately ordered that the policeman concerned be put under custody,” Rosario said.
In Tayum, Abra, the family of the 11-yearold girl who died after she was hit by a stray bullet last New Year’s Eve has not yet decided on the date of burial.
Efren Tabaday, father of the slain Jercy Tabaday, said they are waiting for his wife Shally to arrive from Lebanon where she works.
The Grade 4 pupil at Mabagcat Elementary School was the youngest of five children.
Maybelle Lou Juanitas, the 13- year- old girl who was hit by a stray bullet in Caloocan City on New Year’s Eve, was discharged yesterday from the East Avenue Medical Center.
Juanitas’ cousin Aiza Suan-Ocas said the family was happy that the victim, a Grade 7 student, was allowed to go home a week after the incident.
The victim was walking with her two cousins in Caloocan City when she was hit by a stray bullet on Dec. 31.
She fell down but was able to get up and walk back to her aunt’s house with the help of her cousins, who thought she was hit by a stone.
The victim’s aunt Evelyn Suan said they brought the teenager to the nearby Dr. Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital (Tala Hospital), where doctors stitched the wound, thinking that it was caused by a falling rock.
They went home but Juanitas continued vomiting, prompting them to rush the girl to the EAMC, where an x-ray was performed on the victim.
The x-ray showed a bullet was lodged in the girl’s skull and the EAMC doctors performed surgery to take out the slug.
The police still have no suspects in the case of Juanitas.
Acting Health Secretary Janette Garin said yesterday that a multi-agency technical working group (TWG) would be created to discuss the possible assistance that could be extended to the victims of stray bullets.