A rare case?

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

On Thursday morning MMDA Constable Jorbe Adriatico suffered a fractured nose when he was attacked by a man driving a blue Maserati after he tried to apprehend the driver for making an illegal left turn. According to Adriatico, he took a video of the incident with his mobile phone when the driver of the Maserati ignored him. The driver of the car then stopped to give him the dirty finger, snatched his mobile phone and then proceeded to assault him, he said.

Metro Manila Development Authority Chair Francis Tolentino has offered a P100,000 reward for information leading to the driver’s arrest. Identifying the car owner was made easier due to the rarity of the vehicle.  The car owner determined to be Joseph Russel Ingco,  surfaced with his lawyer yesterday, and  was positively identified by Adriatico as the man who attacked him. The high profile nature of the incident had also  led to a tipster on social media positively identifying the Italian sports car at Ingco’s residence, a luxury condo building on N. Domingo St., Quezon City.

The MMDA constable and its chairman have rightly vowed to file charges against the driver as it was noted that Adriatico is the latest in a growing list of MMDA personnel attacked by traffic violators.

Ingco now joins tobacco firm executive Robert Blair Carabuena who was caught on video slapping MMDA traffic enforcer Saturnino Fabros at a Quezon City intersection in 2012 as the poster boys for abusive Filipino drivers who have to be taught a lesson in respecting authority. 

Despite being pilloried in social media, which could have forced him to issue a public apology, the driver’s license of Carabuena was not revoked by the Land Transportation Office. Ingco, who is now being accused of threatening, assaulting and injuring a MMDA constable; shouldn’t be so fortunate because, while many traffic enforcers of this country may not have been saints while discharging their duties, there is a message that has to be sent loud and clear this time, for drivers of all types of vehicles: There is no excuse for assaulting a person of authority, and the government must make that very clear in how it handles this case.*