Metro Manila, Philippines — A party-list lawmaker aired concerns about her safety after witnessing a shooting that posed a serious threat.
During the House quad committee hearing on Thursday, Dec. 12, Castro said two cops came out from a police car and began shooting a motorbike behind her vehicle in Taguig City on Wednesday evening.
“Bakit po nagkakaroon ng ganitong insidente na sa gitna ng traffic ay nagpapaputok ang pulis? Tingin ko po ay hindi tama ito dahil sa gitna po ito ng sibilyan at traffic ito at maraming sasakyan,” she asked.
[Translation: Why was there a shooting in the middle of traffic? I think this is not right because there were civilians and other vehicles.]
The lawmaker said she believes the incident was related to her job.
“Tine-take ko ito as personal threat sa aking seguridad dahil alam n’yo naman minsan na akong pinagbantaan ng dating Presidente [Rodrigo] Duterte at sa araw-araw na pagsasalita din ng Vice President Sara Duterte ay ako ay sini-single out,” she said.
[Translation: I take it as a personal threat to my security because as you know former President Duterte has threatened me and Vice President Sara Duterte has been singling me out in her remarks.]
Castro called on authorities to release a report on the shooting.
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) is looking into the matter and said that the incident was in Makati City, not Taguig.
It said the Makati police chief and personnel directly involved in the incident have been relieved from their posts pending the investigation.
The NCRPO questioned the absence of a report from the Makati police station.
“NCRPO would like to assure everyone, especially Hon. France Castro, that NCRPO will uncover the details of what happened and if any members of NCRPO committed transgressions (to) policies, they will not be tolerated and will be penalized accordingly,” the regional police office said in a statement.
