Armed police threaten to arrest Taguig condo residents for alleged ECQ violation

Policemen carrying weapons entered the compound of a private high-end condominium in Taguig City on Sunday afternoon and threatened to arrest residents for allegedly violating the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.

The residents, who refused to be named for fear of reprisal, said the incident happened on Sunday afternoon at Pacific Plaza Towers.

“Pool was closed, [and] there were small kids and in a big distance [in between people]. They (police) were walking around the outside area and waving guns in front of small kids and shouting,” a resident told GMA News Online.

The incident sowed fear among adults and children alike, residents said.

Another resident, who was at the other end of the garden when the incident happened, said he was walking in the garden with his wife and two kids when the police started shouting and threatening to arrest at least two families who were also walking in the garden. 

“There was no mass gathering. There were around five or six families in the garden, and we were at least six meters apart. I was walking with my wife and two small kids, when we heard a shout from the police. He (police) was shouting at two families…I will arrest you, he was repeating it. The small kids got scared,” the second source said. 

“We were on the other side of the garden but the shouting was so loud, my children also got scared,” he added.

Joint Task Force COVID-19 Shield Commander Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, in a statement, said that the police are probing the incident.

Eleazar however said the police only went there because there were reports that the residents were violating quarantine measures.

“While Police Major [Joseph] Austria was talking to Board President Gemma Gemayel about the complaints the local police had received, he spotted groups of people gathering at the common area and at the swimming pool which prompted him to caution them that they are violating the home quarantine and social distancing rules,” Eleazar said. 

The second source who is a resident of the place, however, disputed this.

“That is not true. There was no gathering. In fact, the management issued very clear guidelines amid the quarantine, and there are one to two people stationed in the garden to ensure that the residents follow social distancing,”  the source said.

Asked for comment, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday said the matter will be investigated.

He said the police cannot barge inside a private property without just cause and a court order. 

“Karapatan po ng ating mga kababayan na maging secure sa kanilang private spaces. That is inviolable. Hindi puwedeng malabag 'yan, maliban kung may utos ng korte o hukuman,” Roque, a lawyer, added.

“Ang policy po ng police, they cannot enter a private property unless they received an information that there is crime happening in that property, if they are invited, or they have a search warrant. Rest assured this incident will be investigated and we will act in accordance with our Constitution,” Roque added. —KG, GMA News