‘Arrogance has no place in our country:’ Lacson alerts BI on expat-cop scuffle in Makati village

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Panfilo Lacson on Monday said that the Bureau of Immigration (BI) might need to look into the incident involving an “arrogant” foreign national who cursed at a police officer enforcing the quarantine rules during a heated confrontation in a private village in Makati.

“The Bureau of Immigration may have to look into the matter. If a deportation proceeding is in order, they should act swiftly and decisively,” Lacson said in a statement.

“Arrogance has no place in our country – especially so in a situation where either all of us win, or all of us lose to the COVID-19 threat,” he added.

A policeman attempted to arrest Javier Salvador Parra in front of his yard in a subdivision in Makati after a heated argument over the violation of the quarantine rules of the foreign national’s housemaid.

The police officer reportedly wanted to fine Parra’s house helper P1,000 for watering the plants without wearing a face mask.

Under Makati City Ordinance No. 2020-089, anyone not wearing a face mask in public will be P1,000 for a first offense, P3,000 for a second offense, and P5,000 and/or imprisonment of six months for a third offense.

A scuffle between Parra and the police officer later ensued.

A video recorded by Parra’s wife showed the policeman attempting to arrest the foreigner and tackling him to the ground in the process.

Parra, however, went inside his house and was able to evade arrest.

“During these trying times, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has the unenviable task of implementing an Enhanced Community Quarantine, without fear or favor. For the most part, our policemen deserve kudos for doing their jobs,” Lacson, a former PNP chief, went on.

“Such is the case of police officers who arrested a foreigner in Makati City, after he challenged their authority with an arrogant and demeaning behavior,” he added.

A separate video was taken before the fighting happened, meanwhile, showed the police officer calmly talking with Parra to explain the supposed quarantine violation of his house helper until the foreign national hurled expletives at the cop.

“As if this were not enough, the police officers were subjected to unfair criticisms from netizens who saw the ‘edited’ version of the video,” Lacson said, apparently referring to the video which showed the cop tackling Parra.

“On the other hand, being an ‘investor with 80 employees’ as he claimed does not give the foreigner the right to confront and incessantly berate a police officer who is merely performing a risky duty in the manner that he did,” he added.