Ex-Habagat man ‘fires’ shots at tupada crowd

CEBU CITY — A former member of the defunct Presidential Anti-Crime Commission’s Task Force Habagat is now in hot water after residents accused him of firing shots at cockfight spectators last Sunday afternoon.

SPO4 Elvin Wenceslao, assigned to the Guadalupe police station, reportedly got mad and shot at bettors in a cockfight across the river in Barangay San Jose.

Wenceslao, however, denied having fired an Armalite, saying he only fired a warning shot using a caliber .45 pistol.

He said he never owned an Armalite since he was assigned to different police stations after his PACC stint.

He said cockfights, allegedly organized by one Danilo Narboada, have been held every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday in Barangay San Jose for the past two months.

He said he only grabbed a toy Armalite from a child and tried to frighten the people who were holding the cockfight. But he said they just laughed it off, prompting him to get his caliber .45 pistol and fire a warning shot.

But barangay tanod Carlito Miñoza said he saw Wenceslao’s wife come after him and grab the Armalite rifle after he fired once.

Narboada also claimed he saw Wenceslao, standing across the river without a shirt, fire his rifle.

Spectators of the cockfight said they sought refuge at nearby pigpens when they heard gunshots.

They claimed Wenceslao was noted for his ill-behavior whenever he got drunk. — Freeman News Service