MANILA, Philippines—Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo on Monday launched an investigation into the bloody clash that ensued between police officers and residents protesting the planned demolition of roadside market stalls at a Parañaque City compound that left one of the protesters dead and several others wounded.
Robredo said the authorities, for the most part, were just doing their job defending against the rioters, who threw rocks and broken bottles at them, except certain instances caught on camera showing the lawmen hitting the residents with their truncheons.
“The police were just taking a calibrated response. The policy is always maximum tolerance and to be on the defensive at all times,” Robredo said, pointing out that the rioters were the ones who started the violence.
“They (police) were just doing their job, except the footage showing the policeman who not only handcuffed one of the protesters but also hit them,” he said in a phone interview.
Robredo said the conflict resulted from distrust harbored by the residents of Silverio Compound, a settlement of about 6,000 houses in Barangay San Antonio, who did not believe city officials that only 40 to 60 illegal stalls in the “talipapa” (roadside market) would be dismantled.
“There is a court order for the demolition of the talipapa. But the residents think that their houses will also be affected,” he said.
But the official admitted that the owners of the stalls were very likely among the rioters in Monday’s incident.
“I think the issue here is if the authorities will do what they promised so that the residents will believe what they say. I expect that when only the roadside market is demolished as promised, the residents will start believing the authorities,” Robredo said.
Asked about allegations by the Commission on Human Rights that the riot police fired blanks while trying to contain the crowd, he said an investigation should shed light into the incident.
“For me, the authorities should continue performing their duties according to the court’s decisions and based on what was agreed upon. And I think that they (authorities) should also have some protection while performing their duties,” Robredo said.