Drunken soldier, cop wounded in shootout

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A drunken soldier scaring people with a pistol and a policeman who tried to pacify him were both wounded in a shootout in San Miguel, Surigao del Sur Tuesday.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Surigao del Sur Provincial Police Office said the soldier who went berserk, Private 1st Class Rene Porlas of the Army’s 75th Infantry Battalion, and Police Staff Sgt. Jethro Dableo, whom he shot for trying to pacify him, are now both confined in a hospital.

Dableo led a team dispatched to check on reports about the misbehavior of Porlas in San Miguel town's Barangay Tina, threatening to shoot villagers with his service pistol while roaming in the streets, murmuring.

One of Dableo’s subordinates immediately shot Porlas in the leg when he raised and aimed his pistol at them.

Porlas returned fire, hitting Dableo in the shoulder.

Dableo’s companions managed to subdue and disarm the wounded Porlas, now in a hospital, guarded tightly by personnel of the San Miguel Police Station.

Porlas shall be prosecuted for his criminal offense, according to the Surigao del Sur PPO.