ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 21, 2014) – Police are searching for a village chieftain and his followers who allegedly attacked a policeman guarding a village celebration in the town of Imelda in Zamboanga Sibugay province in southern Philippines.
Police said charges were also being readied against the group of Nelson Ortega, village chieftain of San Jose who was accused of mauling local policeman Gerald John Giner.
Ortega reportedly mauled the policeman after he accosted a suspicious man clad in black jacket who turned out to be a relative and a follower of Ortega. The man, who was offended by the policeman’s action, told Ortega that he was accosted by Giner.
The village chieftain, who was reportedly under the influence of liquor, led a small a group and angrily confronted the policeman and subsequently assaulted the officer in front of other people, according to Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, a regional police spokesman.
Huesca said Giner was deployed in the area to secure the village which was celebrating its 37th Anniversary.
“Elements of Imelda Police Station conducted a follow-up operation for the possible arrest of the suspects while case is now being readied against them,” he said.
There was no immediate statement from Ortega or his family about the incident. (Mindanao Examiner)
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