Forty-nine men were arrested Friday morning for their alleged involvement in a shoot-out with the security personnel of Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. (HCPTI) at Manila South Harbor, an incident authorities believe to be related to the father-and-son feud between businessman Reghis Romero II of R-II Builders and HCPTI chief executive officer Michael Romero.
The gunfight reportedly erupted a day after a Pasig City court ordered the elder Romero’s group to return management control of the 10-hectare facility in Tondo to One Source Port Support Services Inc., saying its earlier takeover was illegal. The Dec. 18 order addressed a complaint filed in November by One Source, a firm hired by HCPTI to render ancillary and services management in January 2007.
5 pump boats
According to the Manila Police District (MPD), five pump boats carrying about a hundred men docked at HCPTI around 6 a.m., alarming security guards in the area and provoking an exchange of fire between the two groups.
Most of the armed suspects were able to escape on four of the five boats, while those unable to flee were arrested and brought to the MPD headquarters on United Nations
Avenue.
One pump boat, which could carry over 30 people, was recovered by the police. Also seized from the suspects were a .45-cal pistol, a .38-cal revolver, an M16 magazine with 30 rounds of ammunition, two bomb igniters and 10 hand grenades.
Supt. Dennis Wagas, chief of MPD legal office, said that prior to the Dec. 19 shoot-out, the security office of HCPTI sent a letter to the MPD requesting police assistance in view of reports that armed men had been seen roving in the area.
“Maybe [the police assistance was requested] to avoid conflict because of the tension between father and son,” Wagas said in an interview Saturday, referring to the Romeros. “[We] responded by assigning mobile units to include HCPTI in their patrol beat and by adding checkpoints in the area.”
“But while [the MPD] has knowledge of the legal battle, we responded to the incident because of the reported presence of armed men and the shoot-out,” added.
Many of the arrested suspects claimed they didn’t know of any plan to “attack” HCPTI and that they were only “promised jobs” as security guards, janitors and even movie stuntmen.
Salindatu Embaldan, 46, who introduced himself as a Taguig City resident, said he was promised a job Sunday last week as a pier security guard by someone he knew only as
Ramon, whom he saw regularly at the mosque where he said his prayers.
Billy Seno, on the other hand, said he and two of his friends from Rizal province were promised jobs as stuntmen by a “coordinator.”
Just an ‘orientation’
Around 4 a.m. Friday, Embaldan said he and his companions were driven in a jeep to a pier in Manila where they were instructed to join other men in three pump boats. “We were told that we were attending an orientation.”
When they docked at the South Harbor and got off the boats, Embaldan said he was instructed by Ramon over the phone to just wait for their employer and a lawyer who were going to fetch them. Moments later, Embaldan and his companions heard gunshots and saw two other men in pump boats engaged in a shoot-out.
“We then saw a group of security personnel running toward us and telling us not to move or run. Some of my companions ran in panic and were tackled by security guards. I told them to just put their hands up and follow their instructions so we could explain the real reason why we were there,” said Embaldan.
Wagas said that based on the suspects’ statements, they were picked up by the three pump boats at Pier 6 at Manila North Harbor and were ferried to South Harbor. Before that, Wagas said, five pump boats–commandeered by three men–initially came from Obando, Bulacan province.
Aside from Taguig, Wagas said the other arrested men came from Makati City, Antipolo City, Quezon City and Obando.
Military fatigues, armbands
A video clip obtained by investigators from a suspect’s cell phone showed that the men were armed and in military fatigues and bonnets, with orange armbands, when they landed at HCPTI.
As to Embaldan and Seno’s claims, Wagas said: “I am not sure if they really doní’ know anything or if they are just pretending to be clueless. We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.”
The suspects, who remained in detention at the MPD on Saturday, would be charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, attempted murder, grave threats and grave coercion, the official said.
The Pasig court ordered the elder Romero and his companies R-II Builders Inc. and R-II Holdings to “cease and desist from further disrupting and interfering with [One Source’s] peaceful management control, operations and possession” of the Tondo facility.
It noted that Romero and his companies failed to prove that they own and control majority of the shares of HCPTI, which was also named a defendant in the case. That company is also in the middle of an intracorporate dispute pending in the Manila Regional Trial Court, it added.
‘Physical takeover’
Romero, however, is listed as the chair of HCPTI, based on its website. A spokesperson from R-II Builders said the company had yet to receive a copy of the order and thus could not immediately comment.
The Pasig Court noted that based on records, Romero, R-II Builders and R-II Holdings on Oct. 22 “unilaterally canceled… contracts when they physically took over the business operation of (One Source),” which was “forcibly evicted” from the terminal.
“The illegal takeover by defendant Romero of R-II Builders and R-II Holdings without any court order of the business operation of the terminal facility irreparably damaged plaintiffís (One Source) reputation in the industry, particularly given Romero’s unfounded and baseless claim that the plaintiff was inefficient in the delivery of services,” the Pasig court said.
“Significantly, defendant’s assertion questioning the plaintiff (One Source’s) capacity to operate the terminal, to the mind of this court, is an issue beyond the civil and instant proceeding,” it added.
The court also ordered Romero, R-II Builders and R-II Holdings to stop representing themselves “as owners of defendant HCPTI” and to cease the collection of any funds on behalf of the company.
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