OUTGOING Senate President Vicente Sotto III yesterday slammed the PNP for not subjecting the SUV driver who ran over a security guard in Mandaluyong City to a chemical test based on the provisions of RA 10585 or the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Law.
Sotto said Jose Antonio “Anton” San Vicente should have been subjected to a chemical test after he surrendered to the PNP last Wednesday.
Sotto also questioned the seemingly double standard policy of the PNP when it did not detain San Vicente after his surrender. Instead, San Vicente was allowed to go home after apologizing to his victim, security guard Christian Floralde.
“Kung nagnakaw ng bayabas ang mahirap, kulong agad (When a poor man steals a guava he will immediately land in jail.) What’s happening to our country, Mr. President?” he added.
In response, the PNP said it did not arrest and detain San Vicente due to lack of legal basis.
“We want to inform the public that the PNP has no legal grounds to take into custody the suspect considering there is still no warrant of arrest issued against him,” said PNP spokesman Col. Jean Fajardo.
“Please tell the PNP and the lawyer of the hit-and-run driver they must follow RA 10586 or the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Law,” Sotto said, referring to Section 7 of RA 10586 which states that drivers involved in motor vehicular accidents which result to loss of human lives or physical injuries “shall be subjected to chemical tests… to determine the presence and/or concentration of alcohol, dangerous drugs and/or similar substances in the bloodstream of body.”
If the driver refuses to undergo the mandatory tests, it would mean the confiscation and automatic revocation of his or her driver’s license, aside from other penalties based on pertinent laws.
Sotto said the chemical test should be “the five-way test of PDEA, not the regular drug test.” The five-way test of PDEA Sotto is the “multi-drug one-step immunometric assay” that can detect all types of illegal drugs in urine samples, not just marijuana or shabu.
This was the same test that Sotto and Sen. Panfilo Lacson underwent during the campaign
to show their opponents that they are drug free after President Duterte said a presidential aspirant coming from a rich family is using cocaine.
Charges of frustrated murder and abandonment of one’s victim have been filed against San Vicente before the Mandaluyong City prosecutor’s office last June 6, a day after the mishap.
Floralde, directing traffic at the intersection of J. Vargas and Saint Francis Streets in Barangay Wack Wack last June 5, signaled the SUV to stop but the driver ignored him, ran him over, and sped off.
Fajardo said San Vicente could not be subjected to warrantless arrest “because there is already a considerable lapse of time from the time since the incident occurred.”
Fajardo said San Vicente’s lawyer, Danny Macalino, has given assurance that his client will appear before the Mandaluyong City prosecutor’s office tomorrow for preliminary investigation.
“He committed that they will place themselves under the jurisdiction of the prosecutor’s office and face the charges,” said Fajardo.
Told that other suspects in similar cases were immediately arrested, Fajardo said these suspects “were caught in the act and did not escape.”
“Much as we want to take into custody this person, the incident occurred days ago, June 5, and he is no longer (the) subject of a warrantless arrest. There is no legal ground for the PNP to take him into custody,” said Fajardo.
Fajardo also said there is a possibility the victim and the suspect would reach an out of court settlement.
“If the court will allow that, this may result in the dismissal of the case that was filed against him,” said Fajardo.
“There were vehicular accidents in the past where out of court settlements were reached and that is beyond the control of the PNP already,” said Fajardo.
