EDSA ‘road rage’ driver charged, but…

The gun-wielding motorist in the infamous EDSA ‘road rage’ video was supposedly identified yesterday. Yet a lawyer claims that the police and the complaining taxi driver identified the wrong man. Shortly after the police filed a case against Karlvin Earnest Ang—identified by taxi driver Glen Remetio as the Mercedes Benz driver who pointed a gun at him following a traffic altercation last Friday—a lawyer came forward claiming that they sued the wrong man.

The 33-year-old Ang, director and corporate secretary of Primex Corp., a real estate development firm located in Greenhills, San Juan City, was charged yesterday with malicious mischief, physical injury and grave threats in the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.

This was after he was positively identified by Remetio, who was shown pictures of the firm’s employees.

“When we showed him [Ang’s] picture, he had tears in his eyes and said, ‘That’s him! That’s him,” said Senior Insp. Virgilio Carodan, chief of the Quezon City Police District’s Station Investigation and Detective Management Branch. “[Remetio] said he would never forget the face of the man who pointed a gun at him.”

Remetio also confirmed to the Inquirer in a phone interview that Ang was the driver of the sport utility vehicle. He said that since the “road rage” incident on July 25, he had gone on leave.

“Who can work in this situation? I’m frightened of them because they are rich and powerful,” he added. “I just want them to face me so I can go back to work in peace.”

But when reached by the Inquirer, Robert dela Cruz, a manager at Primex, said in a phone interview that it was not Ang who was involved but Bill Emerson Tan, the son of one of the company directors.

“The name is wrong because we already divulged the name of the real person involved to the police station in Cubao. I believe they will correct that,” he added.

Dela Cruz said the company should be left out of the matter because the person involved in the traffic row was not an employee of the company.

“I’d like to clarify that even though the vehicle involved is registered under the name of the company, the incident [involved] someone who is totally not connected with us,” he pointed out.

“We issued the car for the use of the director. We didn’t know the son was using it,” he said, adding that Tan was also planning to file a case against Remetio who, he claimed, threatened him first with a knife.

QCPD: Complaint won’t change

Derrick Delegencia, Tan’s lawyer, said he was surprised to know that the police had filed the case against Ang. Stressing that his client had been traumatized by the incident, he added that he went yesterday to the Cubao police station, which has jurisdiction over the incident, to talk to Remetio about a settlement.

Carodan, meanwhile, stressed that the information in the filed complaint would not be changed, saying they had been waiting for two days for a representative from the company to talk to investigators but no one showed up.

PO3 Ronnie Ereño, case investigator, said two notices were served to Primex to no avail.

Other possible charges

Aside from the charges filed against him, Ang may also be charged with illegal possession of firearms after the Philippine National Police confirmed that it had no record of him holding a license for any type of gun.

The altercation between Ang and Remetio happened on July 25 on the southbound lane of the Edsa-Santolan flyover near Camp Crame in Quezon City. As captured on video by a bus rider, it showed Ang and an elderly man standing beside Remetio’s cab. When Remetio took out a knife and tried to get out of his cab, Ang kicked the door repeatedly to prevent him from alighting.

When the cab driver finally emerged from the vehicle, Ang took a gun out of his bag and pointed it at him.

Based on Remetio’s version of the incident, it all started when he switched to the rightmost lane of Edsa after he emerged out of the Cubao underpass, earning him dagger looks from Ang.

He said that after the Benz cut across his path, Ang got out, swore and shouted at him repeatedly. He added that he rolled down his window to ask Ang what the matter was but the latter smashed it with his fist.

Blood on his hand

“Blood was dripping from his hand,” Remetio said, adding that Ang kept on kicking the taxi cab’s door, preventing him from getting out.

Remetio said that he pulled out a knife to make Ang stop and back away. When he got out of his taxi, Ang pulled out a gun and Remetio said he threw his knife back into his cab. “He might claim that I stabbed him,” he added.

He added that Ang took the knife from his cab, telling him, “This is evidence.”

Remetio, however, said he would be willing to accept a settlement should Ang apologize to him and pay for the damage to his car amounting to P32,442.

With report by Erika Sauler, Jaymee T. Gamil