A screen grab of a video from a netizen shows a biker punching a bread delivery driver at the intersection of Hernan Cortes St. and A.S. Fortuna in Mandaue City on Sunday, August 22, 2021.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The top official of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) has ordered an investigation on the viral video on social media showing a biker, who claimed to be an agent of the NBI, punching a bread delivery driver at the intersection of Hernan Cortes and A.S. Fortuna Streets in Mandaue City on Sunday, August 22, 2021.
Attorney Renan Oliva, NBI-7 director, said he has seen the viral video and already checked among his officers and employees and found out that no one among them was involved and none of them could identify the person in the said video.
“Definitely, we do not tolerate this kind of behavior,” Oliva said.
According to the uploader of the video, who requested anonymity, the incident happened around 8 a.m. on Sunday. The owner of the video said the biker was part of a group of bikers who became angry when the delivery man attempted to overtake them. The group, according to the uploader, claimed to be agents of the NBI.
NBI-7, in a statement, said the bikers seen on the video do not work for them, saying they were “fake NBI agents.”
For now, Oliva said that they have contacted and coordinated with the victim for him to file a complaint against the two bikers who claimed to be NBI agents.
Oliva said this will help them in identifying these ‘fake’ NBI personnel, who they will be going after so they could also file necessary charges including Usurpation of Authority.
Oliva added that he has also directed his personnel to investigate this incident as these persons might be involved in other criminal activities like extortion and illegal drugs.
The victim was identified by police as Marvin Lobitana, 30, a baker and a resident of Barangay Bacayan. He went to the Police Station 4 in Barangay Casuntingan in Mandaue City on Sunday noon, August 22, to file a police report.
The victim expressed eagerness to file a complaint against these two bikers for allegedly punching him.
Police Corporal Kristopher Dicatalagan, desk officer of Police Station 4, confirmed this and said that Lobitana told them that these two bikers got furious when they accused him of attempting to sideswipe them.
These bikers were allegedly not using the bike lane along the 2.9-kilometer long AS Fortuna Street.
In the viral video circulating on social media, a biker in a light colored shirt punched Lobitana once and pointed a finger toward the victim’s back rider after the latter attempted to react. Right after punching the victim, the two then left the area, the uploader of the video said.
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/bmjo