UnderSecrectary Santiago faces gun charges

Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Narciso Santiago, the husband of administration Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, may face criminal charges after he reportedly poked his shotgun at a former defense official.

In a phone interview, former defense undersecretary Ruben Carranza vowed to file charges of grave threats against Santiago for allegedly poking him with a shotgun after a minor altercation with a protester in front of the Santiago residence at 29 Maalindog Street, UP Village, Quezon City, at around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Carranza said he saw Santiago, wearing a sando, carrying a shotgun, with a pistol tucked at his waist, accompanied by an armed bodyguard, arguing with a certain Jose Logarta over the disturbance allegedly caused by the latter.

Logarta, Carranza and other neighbors had driven around the village honking their horns to protest the rejection of the impeachment court to open a second envelope purportedly containing bank records showing President Estrada’s secret multi-billion deposits.

"I saw then arguing and I tried to pacify them by telling Mr. Logarta that (arguing with Santiago) was not worth it," recalled Carranza who resigned as defense undersecretary for plans and programs last December in protest over the President’s governance.

Apparently provoked by such a statement, Carranza claimed, Santiago immediately poked his shotgun at him, shouting, "Tarantado ka ha!"

Fearing for his life, Carranza said he introduced himself as a former government official but Santiago allegedly retorted, "I don’t care."

Carranza left the scene of the incident.

At around 1 a.m. Wednesday, Carranza said, around 20 riot policemen led by Central Police District director, Chief Superintendent Victor Luga, arrived in the village and threatened to disperse a crowd which had gathered around the Santiagos residence.

"The protesters then dispersed and simply returned to their respective homes because they all live in the same village," he said.

Santiago, Undersecretary for local government, reportedly maintains seven Army Scout Rangers as bodyguards.

His firearms are also said to lack the necessary permits exempting them from the Commission on Elections’ election gun ban.

Meanwhile, a member of the Caloocan City Fire Department could be relieved from the service after allegedly running amuck in a drunken state and attempting to injure a fellow fireman inside a fire station last Friday.

SFO1 Rolando Enriquez is now in danger of being relieved from the service after he reportedly hurled a liquor bottle at SFO2 Maximo Parce, following a drinking session with him and other members of the department.

According to reports, the incident took place at about 11:30 p.m. inside the city’s fire station. Enriquez and other fire officers were having a drinking spree while Fire Chief Inspector Ernesto Bagus was away.

"They all know the rules about drinking inside the fire station, so this is a very unfortunate incident," Bagus said.

After being heavily intoxicated, Enriquez allegedly started to disrupt the peace and threw an empty liquor bottle at Parce after a minor argument.

Parce however, was able to duck. Still, Bagus said he is strict in enforcing the rules and regulations inside the fire station, and that he will make sure that Enriquez and the other firemen involved in the incident will be reprimanded. – Matthew Estabillo