COP WAS DRUNK WHEN HE SHOT ME: BOY, 15, ACCUSED OF DRUG POSSESSION

THE policeman who "accidentally" shot a 15-year-old boy in Barangay
Tisa, Cebu City last Tuesday was allegedly drunk when the incident
happened.

Bobby Payupan, 22, and Sonia Bonghanoy, 19, neighbor and aunt of the
boy, respectively, said the face of PO1 Christopher Gabunada was
flushed when he arrived on a motorcycle with a male companion.

They said they clearly saw Gabunada because the policeman was standing
below a fluorescent lamp.

The boy's relatives further said that when a shot rang out, Gabunada's
male companion ran. The boy was then brought to Gabunada's motorcycle,
with the policeman's right hand still holding the gun apparently to
scare the boy's relatives and neighbors from getting near them.

But homicide investigator Zenaido Pastorfide said Gabunada looked pale
and did not smell of liquor when he investigated the policeman in his
office more than an hour after the incident.

Summons

As this developed, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 Acting
Chief Nelson Bartolome said two more witnesses will appear today to
corroborate the boy's account.

Gabunada himself has also been summoned to appear at the NBI 7 office
tomorrow, while the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) records section
will submit a copy of Gabunada's service record to the NBI.

NBI 7 is looking into the case after the boy's father filed a formal
complaint before the agency accusing Gabunada of shooting the boy and
planting him with illegal drugs.

Bartolome said NBI legal counsel Leslie Salva will be filing a motion
for reinvestigation of the case filed by Gabunada against the boy and
a motion asking the boy's release to his parents or to a social worker.

Assistance

Bartolome also said that helping the boy is his priority for now and
not to file charges against Gabunada.

The Cebu City Commission on the Welfare and Protection of Women and
Children will give assistance to the boy.

Councilor Gerardo Carillo, chairman of the commission, said the boy
was found handcuffed to his hospital bed last Friday while being
treated for his gunshot wound at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).

The handcuffs were only unlocked when the boy's situation was
reported.

Gabunada said he was in the vicinity of the filter site in Barangay
Tisa to recover his stolen video compact disc. The boy approached him
and tried to sell him six packs of shabu.

After Gabunada introduced himself as a policeman and drew out his
revolver to arrest the boy, the latter reportedly fought back by
grabbing his firearm until it went off.

The boy, who denied the policeman's allegation, is now facing separate
charges for resisting arrest and shabu possession before the court.