Cops eye raps vs gun-toting dad

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati City police will file charges of grave threat and slander by deed against a man who poked a gun at an 18-year-old high school senior at the exclusive Colegio de San Agustin (CSA), an official said yesterday.

Acting city police chief Superintendent Jaime Santos said they are just waiting for the victim, Jaime Garcia, to subscribe to his complaint affidavit, which he filed with the city police Saturday.

“The complainant can take his time before this is filed with the city prosecutor’s office. We will wait for him,” Santos said.

Allan Bantiles, who remains at large, has not filed an affidavit with the police. “He is the accused here. He is not expected to file an affidavit with us. He will file that once the complaint is already filed with the prosecutor’s office,” he said.

Santos said investigators are still verifying the identity of Bantiles’ bodyguard, who allegedly accompanied him into the school grounds. He added that they are also checking the firearms records of Bantiles with the Firearms and Explosives Division of the Philippine National Police.

Santos said no criminal complaints or charges will be filed against the five security guards of the school who were present during the incident. The guards are employees of the Soliman Security Agency, he said.

According to witnesses, Bantiles and his bodyguard barged into the school and confronted Garcia after the student allegedly punched his son. Bantiles allegedly slapped Garcia, took a gun from his bodyguard and pointed it at Garcia’s head. “Many saw the incident,” Santos said.

Santos said that even before members of the faculty could order the security guards to hold Bantiles and his bodyguard, the suspects abruptly left. Santos said the school has already banned Bantiles.

Earlier reports have it that Garcia punched Bantiles’ son after weeks of bullying by the younger Bantiles and another classmate.

‘I’m not a bully’

Bantiles’ son denied bullying Garcia. He said it was impossible for him to bully Garcia since the latter was 6’4” tall while he was just 5’7” and skinny. The STAR will withhold the name of Bantiles’ son since he is a minor.

“Jaime Garcia is a classmate and I considered him a friend. I am saddened that he has to make false accusations against me. I never bullied him. He was the one who punched me without provocation. He just became violent,” Bantiles’ son said in a statement.

The boy said he is only 16, while Garcia could be two years older. “I hope that as an older individual, he’ll be mature enough to realize that by coming out with false accusations he is damaging my name and reputation, which might have an adverse effect on my future,” he said.

Bantiles’ wife, Loryni, and son – accompanied by their lawyer, Richard Nethercott – appeared before members of media in Pasig City yesterday to air their side.

“We decided to surface to clear our name as we are the subject of wrong accusations being peddled in the media and social networking sites that shamed and embarrassed our family,” Loryni said.

Bantiles’ son explained that the incident started during their English class and he was seated behind classmate Joshua Dilay and their teacher was standing beside him.

As the teacher was discussing their lesson, Bantiles’ son claimed he suddenly saw Garcia stabbing Dilay “three times” in the back with a ballpoint pen. “So I told Jaime to calm down, and then when I was not looking I received a blow to the jaw,” he said.

Bantiles’ son said he suffered blurred vision and pain in the jaw as Garcia “punched me hard.” He said he went out of the classroom to cool off, and when the head teacher saw him, she sent him to the clinic.

The following day, Garcia was suspended for three days for stabbing his classmate with a ballpen, Bantiles’ son said.  

School not off the hook

CSA is not yet entirely off the hook, a Department of Education (DepEd) official said yesterday.

DepEd Assistant Secretary Tonisito Umali, who handles legal and legislative affairs, said while the department is satisfied with the school’s planned legal action against Bantiles and additional security measures to prevent similar incidents, “we are still waiting whether the measures that CSA intends to implement… will indeed be implemented.”

Umali said the DepEd has clear policies on such incidents, especially with DepEd Order 40 issued by Secretary Armin Luistro earlier this year. The order states the department’s policies on bullying, child abuse and similar acts.