CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga , Philippines – Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman Martin Diño is facing charges for physical injuries and grave threats.

In a complaint filed before the Olongapo City prosecutor’s office on June 2, Allan Bolanos, a resident of Barangay Apitong Old Cabalan in Olongapo City, said Diño beat him up and threatened to kill him while he was fueling up at a gasoline station along Argonaut Highway at about 4:30 p.m. on May 13.

Bolanos said Diño emerged from a pickup and cursed him as he criticized his driving. “Taga saan ka ba?....Kilala mo ba ako. Ako si chairman (Do you know me, I’m the chairman),” he quoted Diño as telling him.

He said Diño also punched him several times. “I kept pleading for forgiveness and explained I was rushing as the diesel fuel of my van was running out,” Bolanos stated in his affidavit.

Diño threatened to slit his neck and shoot him, he added.

Bolanos said he did not immediately report the incident to the police and instead sought the advice of leaders of the Iglesia ni Cristo, of which he is a member. He said a minister of the INC later told him that Diño had apologized for the incident.

However, Bolanos said he still feared for his life and was unable to go to work for one week following the incident.