MANILA, Philippines — Taguig Mayor Lino Cayetano has said that the policewomen accused of berating a mother for exercising in a park with her child were not from the city.
“This is the reason why they were not aware of the guidelines issued by the local government regarding safe zones designated for the use of senior citizens, children, pregnant women and those with comorbidities,” Cayetano explained in a statement.
He added that he was in favor of the investigation to be conducted by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) into the spate of complaints from mothers in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig City, who were reportedly bullied by policewomen when they went to a park with their children to exercise.
“Rest assured that NCRPO will not tolerate any form of disrespectful conduct among our ranks, should we find any,” Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, said in a statement over the weekend.
Earlier, a video showed policewomen scolding a mother with her child at Burgos Circle park for allegedly violating quarantine protocols.
Sinas said that based on the Taguig police’s initial investigation, the seven policewomen were sent to the park “following a report about rampant general community quarantine (GCQ) violations in the area.”
No social distancing
The police claimed the woman, a foreigner, was “disregarding the observance of social distancing protocol” by conversing with another couple. Her toddler was also not wearing a face mask.
The BGC Estate Association, the estate management arm of Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. which consists of BGC lot owners and tenants, has issued a June 4 circular identifying Burgos Circle as a “safe zone.”
According to the city government’s Taguig Safe City Task Force, safe zones are “highly regulated” areas for the exclusive use of groups considered vulnerable to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), including the elderly and pregnant.
Under GCQ, residents may exercise in these areas as long as they do not mingle with others, gather in groups or loiter.
—With a report from Jodee A. Agoncillo