Manila cop charge with pointing gun at teens

GEN Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the Philippine National Police, has ordered the filing of criminal and administrative charges against a police officer who pointed his gun at a group of teenagers for loitering during curfew hours.

Police Cpl Medel Biloan, assigned to the intelligence section of the Manila Police District (MPD) Station 2, was disarmed and placed under the custody of the MPD pending the investigation of the case.

Eleazar said on Saturday that a criminal complaint for violation of Republic Act No.7610, or the Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, was filed against Biloan at the Manila Prosecutor’s Office.

He also ordered MPD director Police Brig-Gen Leo Francisco to file administrative charges against Biloan for grave misconduct, which may lead to a 60-day suspension and possible dismissal from police service.

A police report said Biloan was arrested by his colleagues after he was caught on video threatening to shoot four teenagers aged between 12 and 18 around 2.30am on Friday in Barangay 267, Tondo, Manila.

Curfew hours in Metro Manila are from 10pm to 4am.

In another closed-circuit television footage of the Barangay, Biloan, who was off-duty and in civilian clothes, was seen drinking liquor outside his residence around that time. — Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN