Cops enforcing quarantine rules barge into gated Taguig City condo compound

MANILA, Philippines — Overzealous policemen wandered off late Sunday afternoon into the gardens of a gated condominium compound in Taguig City and started “screaming,” with one allegedly waving a gun at its residents who are mostly foreigners.

American Joseph Castillo, a resident of the Pacific Plaza Towers (PPT) and a Christian bishop of the All Nations Fellowship International, told the Inquirer that the foreigners of different nationalities living at the building would be lodging a complaint against the Philippine National Police (PNP) through their respective diplomatic channels.

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Taguig City Mayor Lino Cayetano reportedly owns a unit at the Pacific Plaza Towers, high-end residential condominium skyscrapers located in Bonifacio Global City where the incident happened.

PNP spokesperson Brig. General Bernard Banac told the Inquirer: “As a policy, police will never come inside a private property unless invited by the owner or administrator.” He assured that the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) will look into the matter.

Castillo told the Inquirer that at around 5 p.m. on Sunday, he was getting food he had ordered from a delivery service provider when he saw one of a number of camouflage-wearing policemen shouting and waving a gun at condominium residents staying at the pool area.

“Everything was normal as it is here (PPT) when military officers barged into the garden,” he said, mistaking the PNP personnel for soldiers because of the camouflage uniform and the high-powered weapons they carried.

“Our staff (at the PPT) did not feel they had authority to tell them (policemen) not to come in. (Maybe because) They had guns and big weapons,” Castillo said, noting that there were at least 10 residents, including some kids, an elderly couple and a sunbathing diplomat, in the area at the time.

“There are people loitering outside in the other cities. Why would they invade our private community with guns in their hands, screaming at people to go inside because of the virus?” he remarked, adding that the PPT management allowed tenants to walk around or exercise at the gardens as long as they wore masks.

He pointed out that there are paths around the pool area and the gardens which are very spacious so physical distancing — at least six feet between persons — can still be observed.

“We were on our private property and the community, the law allows us to stay in common areas,” Castillo said. He noted that the PPT houses diplomats from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Iraq and several other countries because it is among the safest and most secure residential buildings in the country with 24-hour security inside and outside the compound.

The PPT administrator told tenants that the PNP personnel were there to discuss enhanced community quarantine protocols with them but supposedly “wandered off into the gardens and pool area,” chancing upon some residents staying there at the time.

/MUF