CABANATUAN CITY – A 36-year-old tricycle driver has been arrested by
police and is facing charges and a possible prison term here after tearing a
P20 bill paid to him by a lady employee of the Department of Justice.
Police Superintendent
Joselito Villarosa, Cabanatuan police chief, identified the tricycle driver as
Alexander Sunga of Purok
3, Barangay San Juan Accfa.
Villarosa said Sunga was arrested by local
police after he angrily tore the P20 bill, with serial No. JT935015, paid as
transportation fare by Elizabeth Pangilinan Diesta, 54, administrative assistant
of the DOJ here.
The bill-tearing incident, Diesta said,
happened Monday morning.
Tearing of central bank notes and coins
is prohibited under Presidential Decree 247 signed on July 18,1973 by
then-President Ferdinand Marcos. Aside
from tearing, it also prohibits and penalizes defacement, mutilation, burning
or destruction of notes and coins which are issued by the Central Bank for
circulation as medium of exchange.
The law said utilizing them for other
purposes does not speak well of the due respect and dignity befitting the
currency and unfavorably reflect on the discipline of the people and create a
bad image for the country.
Any person found to violate the Decree
shall be slapped with conviction, a fine of not more than P20,000 and/or by a
maximum imprisonment of five years.
Police said that Sunga apparently was
disgusted with the amount given him by Diesta and was demanding for more.
Tricycle drivers in this city have
often been the butt of complaints of passengers due to overcharging and
refusing to convey them among other complaints.
This city has been hailed as the
country’s tricycle capital with an estimated 14,000 tricycle units plying this
city’s route daily.
A criminal complaint for violations of
PD 247 (Tearing of Currency Notes) and unjust vexation was forwarded to the Cabanatuan
City Prosecutor’s Office. – Manny Galvez
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