Babauta orders probe of Tanapag incident

Gov. Juan N. Babauta has ordered the Attorney General Investigation Unit to investigate the alleged mauling incident involving his close-in police security staff in front of the Tanapag church Friday.

Press Secretary Pete A. Callaghan said yesterday that Babauta wants “a thorough, complete, and quick” investigation of the matter.

“The governor is concerned about any allegation of police misconduct. The incident is under investigation by the DPS and AGIU. The governor has asked that it be thorough, complete, and quick so we can to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible,” said Callaghan.

He said Babauta was unaware of the incident as he was inside the church attending the funeral of the mother of Personnel and Management director Juan I. Tenorio.

Babauta’s current close-in security, police officer Regino Celis, is being accused by 50-year old Sara Kwik and her family, who owns Kwik Trip, a store located across the church, of beating her up.

Celis allegedly pushed her and twisted her arms when she asked a man, identified as Isidro Kani, to remove his car, which he had parked in front of her store. Kani reportedly parked the car in the available space to attend the funeral mass.

In an interview, Mrs. Kwik said that when she realized that Kani was not a customer, she followed him toward the church to ask him to remove the car.

“I want him to remove the car because it’s for our customers but he ignored me. I asked him, ‘Did you hear what I said?’ He said nothing,” she said. Later, though, she alleged that Kani turned to her and pushed her with both hands.

“I felt angry. Why [did] he push me? I asked him, ‘Why are you pushing me?’” she said.

At this, another person in civilian clothes came (whom she later learned to be Celis) and introduced himself as a policeman.

“He showed me his badge. ‘I’m a policeman. I’m protecting the governor. So I feel good and relieved. I wanted to tell him what happened but he twisted my arms. I shouted. He did not listen to me,” she said.

She claimed that Celis pushed her against a car and wanted to get her inside Kani’s car.

She said she refused to get inside the car.

“I sat down on the ground because I didn’t want to go inside the car. I was screaming,” she said.

She said another man in civilian clothes came and introduced himself as a policeman. She said the second policeman told her to stay inside the store.

“I was locked in the store. I was told, ‘You wait,’” she said.

After about 10 minutes, she said an ambulance came and wanted to check her condition. “I don’t want to be checked. I told him there’s no problem. So they left,” she said.

She said the incident happened outside the church between 11:30 to 11:45am on Friday. At about 12:30pm, she said she saw the governor in a vehicle being driven by Celis.

The car stopped in front of the store.

She said she saw the governor talking to Kani. “They shook hands,” she said.

Mrs. Kim said her husband, Abraham, arrived after about an hour. It was then that they decided to call the police and go to the hospital for a medical check. She said the doctor found no abnormalities during her checkup.

“The doctor said there’s no problem with my bone. It’s only muscle pain,” she said.

Callaghan said Celis had briefed the governor about the incident but the governor was not aware if Kwik was hurt or not.

“This thing is already under investigation. We all hope to know what really happened there,” he said.

Kani could not be reached for comments as of yesterday.