AN employee of the regional office of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI-7) was arrested for pistol-whipping a fellow jeepney passenger in Cebu City yesterday.
Ruel Caballero, 39, an administrative aide in the NBI office in Mandaue City, was taken to the Parian Police Station by a barangay tanod after the confrontation.
The victim Ronillo Catalan, 31, suffered a cut in the left side of his face.
The two were on board a 10H jeepney at 6:15 a.m. when the NBI employee who boarded the jeepney at P. del Rosario Street accidentally stepped on Catalan’s foot.
The injured passenger glared at him.
“Pagtan-aw nako niya niingon naman nuon nga unsa may problema nimo? Dayon bunot sa iyang pusil ug hapak sa akong ulo,” Catalan said.
(When I looked at him, he angrily asked ‘what’s your problem?’ And then he pulled a gun and hit my head.)
Police first thought that a jeepney robbery had taken place because the NBI employee was seen gripping his gun inside the jeepney.
Catalan, who lives in Basak Pardo, was on his way to Pier 5 to fetch his elder siblings who were arriving from Cagayan de Oro City.
The victim’s affidavit stated that the NBI employee apologized for the incident but when the jeepney stopped at the T. Padilla intersection, the NBI aide transferred to a seat opposite Catalan.
That’s when the trouble started as the NBI aide saw Catalan glaring at him.
Caballero said that he has been with the NBI for 13 years and carries a licensed gun.
He was detained for five hours in the police station but in the end the victim said he would not press charges.
Several NBI agents rushed to the police station.
“An internal investigation will be made,” said NBI-7 supervising agent Jose Ermie Monsanto.