DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 20 May) – The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) vowed to file an alarm and scandal charges against individuals involved in a riot inside the Bankerohan Public Market in Barangay 5-A here.
“Any individuals involved sa mga ingunani na insidente, file-an jud na sila’g kaso nga alarm and scandal (Anyone involved in such incident will definitely be charged with alarm and scandal),” DCPO spokesperson Hazel Tuazon said in a radio interview Monday morning.
San Pedro Police Station’s initial investigation revealed that on early Sunday morning, a 17-year-old minor called for police presence due to a commotion happening in the eatery.
The complainant said six unknown people who allegedly ignited the fight immediately left the vicinity after the incident.
The caller also requested an ambulance to assist a man mauled by the group.
“Makita man gud nato sa video sa social media, mga hubog man gud ni sila (We can see in the video on social media that they are clearly under the influence of liquor),” Tuazon said.
She was referring to a Facebook video reel posted by user Bel Retep Oebut, which garnered 5.6 million views as of 3 p.m. on May 20.
In the video, sounds of broken utensils and plates can be heard while a group of apparently young men throw objects at each other, with people running away from the commotion.
At the latter part of the video, a young man can be seen with wounds at the left side of his face.
Tuazon said that even if both parties are not willing to file a case, the the DCPO will file charges against them “because we do not want other Dabawenyos to imitate this behavior,” Tuazon said.
As of posting, the San Pedro Police was still conducting a follow-up investigation to identify the persons involved and to determine the cause of the brawl.
Following the Bankerohan riot, Col. Richard P. Bad-ang, DCPO director, instructed all the station commanders to strengthen patrolling and police visibility to maintain peace and order in the city. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)