Parañaque mayor apologizes for mauling incident

MANILA, Philippines — Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez apologized on Monday to the family of the vendor mauled by members of a local road clearing task force, vowing to punish those involved in the assault. Olivarez assured that the five task force personnel would be removed and administratively sanctioned after being afforded due process as he acknowledged the “excessive force” they used on vendor Warren Villanueva. “For the past five years, this is the first time that we had an incident of abuse of authority by members of the task force,” he pointed out. A video that went viral over the weekend showed Villanueva being forced by five task force personnel to lie face down on the ground before he was cuffed, and kicked on the face. “We will not tolerate this one. So immediately the city government, our office, ordered the suspension of those five task force personnel,” Olivarez said. —Jeanette I. Andrade