Traffic enforcer: I was framed

FB video of street spat  ‘misleading’;  he helped priest, old woman

The Cebu City traffic enforcer who was  caught on camera arguing with a teenager  during the Sinulog parade yesterday said her Facebook rant only showed part of what really happened.

Bonifacio Legarde explained his side in an affidavit he submitted with supporting photos yesterday.

Legarde said he felt disrespected by the teenager when she asked him sarcastically if he was deaf.

The girl used a Facebook post to complain that she repeatedly called Legarde to ask him to help an old woman hail a taxi.

But Legarde said he didn’t notice the girl right away because he was busy helping a paralyzed priest on a wheelchair.

He said the teenager’s  remark angered him and  led to a  confrontation.

The teenager’s friends took a video of the confrontation  and  posted it online.

The video has since been shared 2,778 times, viewed 186,000 times and received 1,300 comments since it was posted online five days ago.

Legarde said the video didn’t show what happened before and after the confrontation.

Rey Gealon, Cebu City Traffic Office executive director, said  Legarde’s affidavit will be sent to the Human Resources department to determine appropriate action.

According to Legarde, before the teenagers noticed the old woman, he  already spoke with the senior citizen and assured  that he would get her a cab after he first helps the  paralyzed priest.

He called the  video of the incident and its posting online a “frame-up”.

He said the video clip was misleading because  it only showed the  confrontation  and not the part where he helped the old woman into a cab.

“The old woman was the first to ride a cab even if the paralyzed priest came first,” he said.

Legarde said the video has tarnished his record as a public servant with no derogatory record in the last 28 years.

Legarde said  the girl who posted the complaint sent a message on Facebook to his daughters saying she wanted to amicably settle the issue.

“I want to settle this in a good way even though  wa koy  papa (I don’t have a father). I still understand your part. I already forgive him,” the girl said in her message.