Cop-guard brawl foiled

At least 10 armed security guards of a shopping mall in Mandaluyong City trooped to a police sub-station over the weekend apparently to rescue their colleague who quarreled with an Air Force sergeant in the establishment’s parking lot.

However, cooler heads intervened and a shootout between the security guards and policemen was prevented.

The trouble started when Roldan Visen, 26, of Malinta, Valenzuela City, a security guard of the Shangri-la Plaza, was accosted for engaging in a shouting match with Air Force Sgt. Leo Aguila at about 8 p.m. Saturday.

Superintendent Jose Gentiles, Mandaluyong City police chief, said Visen and Aguila had engaged in a previous argument inside the building.

Gentiles said Aguila is part of the Air Force contingent deployed in malls as part of Task Force Tulungan of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Aguila was on his way home when Visen confronted him in the malls’ parking area. The soldier was boarding a military 6x6 truck when Visen shouted invectives at him.

Before the trouble got out of hand, a policeman intervened and invited Visen and Aguila to a nearby police precinct along St. Francis St., at the back of the mall, to settle their differences. — Non Alquitran