DIPLOG CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 19, 2014) – Philippine police arrested a 51-year Belgian national who attacked two Filipinos in a hotel in Dipolog City on the southern island of Mindanao.
Police said Dany Eric Roelandt, a native of Bruges City in Belgium, was apparently drunk when he trashed a gathering of a Filipino family at Hotel Camila on April 17. Roelandt, also a guest in the hotel, allegedly hit Wilson Flores, 29, after he confronted the foreigner when he occupied the family’s table at the pool side and then started cursing the Filipinos.
Roelandt’s Filipina fiancée, Gloria Trazona, tried to pacify the foreigner, but she too, was ignored and further pushed Flores. The hotel’s security guard Luceno Dalap told police that he was also chocked by the foreigner when he tried to stop him from disturbing the guests. The foreigner also destroyed the hotel’s door.
Police arrived at the hotel after its manager Alma Cuenca, 35, phoned authorities to report about the incident, according to Insp. Dahlan Samuddin, a regional police spokesman.
He said the Roelandt was immediately arrested before he could do further harm on other hotel guests and brought to the hospital where a doctor conducted breath alcohol test on the foreigner. “The foreigner is currently detained at the Dipolog City Police Station,” Samuddin said.
It was not immediately known whether the Royal Belgian Embassy in Manila was informed about the arrest of Roelandt, who was just visiting the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
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