A taxi driver filed a complaint yesterday against Papua New Guinea Ambassador Graham Ainui before the Pasay City police for allegedly head-butting him after he insisted on being paid the correct fare.
Randy Nievera, 33, said the incident stemmed from Ainui’s refusal to pay the P2,500 taxi fare incurred by the diplomat’s female friend, identified only as "Kate."
Nievera said Ainui only gave him $20, which when converted to pesos is P1,500 short of the total bill. When he informed the ambassador of this, Ainui headbutted him twice, he claimed.
Nievera said he sustained a swollen nose as a result of the attack, and showed a medical certificate issued by the Pasay City General Hospital.
Police records show that the incident happened at around 2:30 a.m. in front of the Vision Disco located along the auxiliary road of Roxas Boulevard.
Nievera said Kate hailed his cab (with license plates TWL-402) on Arnaiz street in Makati City around noon last Sunday and hired him to drive her around the rest of the day.
They went to a couple of malls in Manila and Makati, a nightclub in Pasay, and finally, at 10 p.m., to Vision Disco, he said.
Benigno Cuenca Jr., Ainui’s driver and a visa clerk at the Papua New Guinea embassy, said they left Ainui’s home at around 10 a.m. and proceeded to the embassy’s office, located at the third floor of the Corinthian Plaza building along Paseo de Roxas in Makati.
Ainui worked until 1:30 p.m., then they proceeded to a hotel in Manila where the ambassador watched Rugby League games on cable television. Cuenca said they went to a mall in Pasay at 5 p.m. and then two hours later, proceeded to Vision Disco.
At 2:50 a.m., Kate emerged from the club with Ainui, reportedly arguing. Kate was seen to be hysterical.
Kate ran towards Harrison street, and Cuenca said Ainui told him to follow her. He failed to catch up with her.
When Cuenca returned to the club, employees and customers told him that Ainui had headbutted Nievera.
Nievera said Ainui boarded a waiting dark-colored Mercedes Benz with diplomatic plate CM 1000. He then radioed his fellow taxi drivers for help, and they used their taxicabs to block Ainui’s car at the intersection of EDSA and Taft Avenue.
Cuenca said he was forced to ask for police assistance when the taxicabs blocked their way.
PO1 Omar Sarahan of the Pasay Police Station 6 asked Ainui to go with him to the police headquarters, but the ambassador refused. Cuenca went in his stead.
Ainui drove himself home to Dasmariñas Village in Makati, escorted by policemen, allegedly out of fear of retaliation by Nievera’s friends.
Records show that Deputy Ambassador Dominic Ampa’oi spoke with Nievera and offered to settle the case. The taxi driver was set to meet with the diplomats at the Papua New Guinea embassy yesterday afternoon, police said.
No case would be filed against Ainui because the ambassador enjoys diplomatic immunity, according to Inspector Michael Chavez, chief of the Pasay police investigation division.
Cuenca, a longtime employee of the embassy, said it was the first time in Ainui’s six years in the country that the ambassador figured in such an incident.