BACOLOD City – A city councilor here is calling for an investigation into the shooting of a local fisherman by alleged members of the Iloilo City’s Bantay Dagat.
Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) committee on agriculture, said he is collating all information and drafting a resolution calling for an investigation.
“What I heard so far is taga-Iloilo ang sa pihak nga side. I don’t know pa kon Iloilo province or Iloilo City. We are still gathering the information, but ang bottomline, it is illegal nga maniro ka,” he pointed out on Monday, August 4.
On Sunday, August 3, the 52-year-old Reynaldo Manlangit, a resident of Purok Kagaykay, Barangay 2 in this city, was injured after he was shot off the waters between Guimaras and Bacolod, allegedly by the patrolling Bantay Dagat personnel. He is currently undergoing medical treatment at a hospital here.
Sayson said Manlangit was fishing at the border of Bacolod and Iloilo.
Initial reports indicate that the Bantay Dagat tried to arrest the fisherman but he fled, and he was shot.
“We will investigate. And if ever Iloilo Bantay Dagat was involved, I will have to ask the mayor of Bacolod City to talk with the local chief executive of the LGU in Iloilo in order to prevent similar incident from happening again,” the city councilor said.
Meanwhile, the Bacolod City Police Station 2 said they were still investigating whether Bantay Dagat personnel were responsible for the shooting.
As of this writing, they were coordinating with the maritime police on the said incident./PN
