The latest viral road rage incident in this country where many road ragers have gotten away with bloody murder, as long as they the resources and connections to make up for their lapse in judgement, is looking like a turning point in how such incidents will be dealt with by the authorities.
In a video taken by a motorist who witnessed the incident, a fuming bald man emerges from a red sedan, physically assaults an unarmed cyclist and the tops off the road rage cake by drawing and cocking his gun.
After going viral, the man identified as Wilfredo “Willie” Gonzales had the gall to call a press conference to blame social media for depicting him as a bad person. He claims that he and his victim, who was not present, had already reached a settlement.
However, it now turns out that his victim was most likely threatened into “settling” the case with his armed attacker who happens to be a retired cop. Although the video speaks volumes of what happened, the victim has been silent this whole, saying in a statement to ABS-CBN News that he and his family were no longer interested in pursuing criminal charges against Gonzales. He also denied that money or threats led to their decision and asked the public to respect it. That certainly sounds like someone who is afraid of the cops who are supposed to protect the actual victims instead of holding a press briefing with the perp.
Viral stories sometimes just die a natural death and are forgotten, usually to the relief of the villains involved, but this one has taken a life of its own and it is looking like a watershed moment in how our cops deal with road rage cases, especially if involves fellow retired cops or sketchy “intelligence operatives.”
For organizing the press briefing for Gonzales, Quezon City Police District Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III has submitted his courtesy resignation. In a House public order and safety panel on the incident, he admitted making a mistake by holding the press briefing “without the other party present.”
“I should have not allowed Gonzales to join me in the press conference, considering that the other party was not present and Gonzales was saying that they came to an agreement. It was really one-sided, considering that it was only him speaking,” Torre said in his apology.
As for Gonzales, who turns out to be a coterminous employee of a Supreme Court associate justice, his role in the viral issue resulted in his prompt firing. Interestingly, an investigation into the guy by Rappler also showed that he faced an administrative case involving grave misconduct in 2006, but was able to retire in 2016 before the case was resolved. However, in 2018, the case led to his dismissal from service. This is also a guy who had been demoted several times, to the point that he left the service with the lowest rank possible of P01.
So far, because of this road rage incident and the viral video of it, we have an attacker that has lost his job, even after being coddled by a police chief that has already resigned after realizing the error of his ways. Aside from having his firearms confiscated and permits revoked, and the LTO suspending his license for 90 days, pending a hearing, a complaint of alarm and scandal has also been filed against Gonzales by the Galas police, and the QCPD and Quezon City government are also studying pursuing additional criminal charges.
It would seem all great to hear, that the police and our society are finally doing the right thing when it comes to road rage, even after that initial stumble, but my main takeaway here is that the victim still has practically disappeared after that unfortunate encounter with an armed man that the police initially believed more than him. If it hadn’t been for the viral video taken by a passing motorist, it would’ve been business as usual for the attacker and our cops who seem to be easily intimated by “powerful and connected” perpetrators on grave injustices.
Our cops will have to be more consistent, at a nationwide scale, before the citizenry can really trust that they will launch actual investigations, gather evidence, and follow proper procedure when it comes to such cases.
Interestingly, despite all these supposed lessons, it seems that another road rage incident was handled poorly by the Makati police the other day, when an out-of-uniform police officer and an alleged military man were videoed in a road altercation that also involved drawn firearms. They were taken to a police substation for questioning and at that point, the other guy claimed to be a member of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In another lapse of police judgement, the gun-toting dude was allowed to walk way, despite not giving solid proof or any mission order to justify being armed. That is another clear cut case of cops taking it easy on people who claim to be connected to power or authority, and another reason why we can’t really be hopeful that despite the resignation of the QC chief, this country’s cops are taking notes and learning their lessons.*
