Chinese who splashed taho on cop indicted for direct assault

A Mandaluyong City prosecutor has indicted the Chinese woman who was detained after splashing taho on a police officer at a train station for direct assault to an agent of person in authority.

In a Monday inquest resolution, Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Leynard Dumlao recommended that Zhang Jiale, 23, be charged in court for violation of Article 148 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).

The crime is punishable by up to six years imprisonment. 

The prosecutor said the Zhang's taho-throwing on an officer in uniform "is considered deliberate and serious defiance to a police officer who was performing his duties at the time."

Zhang reportedly tried to bring a cup of taho into the MRT3's Boni Avenue Station despite an ongoing liquid ban in the rail line, an extra security measure after a deadly cathedral bombing in Jolo, Sulu last month. "Irked" by the policy, the woman threw the taho on Police Officer 1 William Cristobal.

Unsealed food and drinks have also been long banned inside the stations.

"It is offensive both by legal and moral norm considering that there was no provocation on the part of the police officers. Simply put, respondent's unwarranted act is an abrasive affront against an officer in uniform representing a national institution," the prosecutor said.

The complaint for unjust vexation was dismissed because it is a "necessary consequence" of the assault and is "deemed absorbed" in the charge for direct assault.

The resolution was approved by City Prosecutor Bernabe Augustus Solis.

The Bureau of Immigration's legal team has also recommended the filing of a deportation case against Zhang, who has apologized for her actions. — MDM, GMA News