Dasmariñas Village homeowners: Security agency can't speak for us

The Dasmariñas Village Association (DVA) said Friday its security guards did not violate any rules when it barred the convoy of Makati Mayor Junjun Binay from passing through a restricted gate last month.

 

In a statement shown on “24 Oras” Friday evening, DVA said it is also unhappy that Ram Antonio, the owner of the security agency that employed the guards, apologized to Binay and acknowledged a supposed lapse in protocol.

 

“The agency has no right to say that there were lapses. Hindi kami masaya doon sa sinabi ni Ram Antonio.There were no lapses in security [because] there were rules,” DVA said. 

 

A Philippine Daily Inquirer report published on Thursday said Mayor Binay ordered the arrest of three security guards of the posh village on November after they supposedly prevented his convoy from passing through a restricted gate.

 

Senator Binay was aboard one of the vehicles in the convoy, the Inquirer report said.

 

The report quoted Makati City Police chief Police Superintendent Manuel Lucban as saying the three security guards were brought to the police headquarters "to verify if the permits of their firearms were in order."

 

The report likewise said Right Eight Security Agency Inc. "instructed" the guards to apologize to Mayor Binay.

 

DVA, however, insisted the guards were merely enforcing the rules. It said only the homeowner’s association has the right to exempt any official from following the rules. 

 

“If ever there will be courtesy exemptions to be extended to any government official, it will be the DVA that should say so, not the security agency. Kasi kami ang policy makers, hindi si Ram Antonio,” it said. 

 

In a letter dated December 2, Antonio, the owner of Right Eight Security Agency, apologized to Binay on behalf of the security personnel and told the mayor he should have been given the “proper behavior and courtesy” given to a public official.
 

Economist and television host Solita “Winnie” Collas-Monsod, a resident of the village, said Antonio might have been compelled to apologize since he is a known supporter of Binay. 

 

“I don’t know whether it was the Binays who did it or the security agency [itself] pero they (Antonio and Binay) are connected. Ram Antonio is a supporter. They actually asked the security people to erase the tape. Why would they want to do that? I made my own investigation and that’s what I heard,” she said.

 

GMA News tried to reach Antonio for comment, but he is reportedly out of the country for a vacation. 

 

 Senator Nancy Binay, meanwhile, said the issue had already been resolved by both parties “before the news landed above-the-fold in the Inquirer.” — Xianne Arcangel/JDS, GMA News