Cop accidentally shot in the balls

A policeman assigned here for the 12th ASEAN Summit was accidentally shot in the genitals by his fellow policeman who was cleaning his .45 cal. pistol early morning yesterday in their rented apartment along BM Dimataga Street, barangay Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu City.

PO1 Erwin Pagubo Palmera, 29, a resident of Apopong, General Santos City, was brought to Mactan General Hospital after getting shot in the genitals by PO1 Mark Tanilon Cadapan, 25, of Bagacay, Sarangani province.

Both policemen are Field Training Program trainees assigned to the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office as part of the ASEAN Summit security augmentation.

PO3 Manolito Abellanosa, homicide investigator of Lapu-Lapu police, said the two came from a party of a friend in barangay Agus and arrived at the rented apartment past 2 a.m. yesterday.

Cadapan was cleaning his gun when it went off and hit Palmera who was relieving himself inside the comfort room just a few meters away.

Cadapan surrendered after the incident and submitted himself to a paraffin test at the PNP Crime Laboratory while his service pistol was turned over to Homicide Section of Lapu-Lapu police.

Abellanosa said no criminal charges will be filed against Cadapan but he can still be administratively liable if the victim will file a case for reckless imprudence.

Earlier, five policemen from Police Regional Office-6 also serving as security augmentation for the upcoming summit got into trouble after allegedly firing their service firearms indiscriminately.

Sr. Supt. Louie Opus, chief of the Lapu-Lapu City police station disarmed PO1s Ken Filarmeo, John Predic Padilla, Robert Magturo, Dexter Vegafria and Crispin Cajelo of their newly-issued firearms.

Based on the investigation conducted by Lapu-Lapu police, a certain Noel Alsisto of sitio Matumbo, barangay Pusok, reported that the policemen fired indiscriminately after they came from the party of another policeman who lived near the complainant's house.

Aside from disarming them, Opus ordered them to camp restriction while criminal cases for alarm and scandal and grave threats are being readied against them, this aside from the administrative charges. - Ramil V. Ayuman and Edwin Ian Melecio