‘Armed guards detain tenants, cut phones’ in QC realty row

The owners of a realty company are facing criminal complaints for allegedly taking over a commercial building in Quezon City without a court order and using armed men to detain the building’s staff members for more than 24 hours.

Gerardo Kaimo, co-owner of the building, filed complaints for grave coercion, usurpation of real property, and serious illegal detention in the city prosecutor’s office against Anthony and Elizabeth Catolos, owners, directors and managers of La Verne Realty & Development Corp. The respondents were also sued for slight physical injuries and maltreatment and illegal possession of firearms.

In a complaint-affidavit, Kaimo said the Catoloses, their lawyer Nadine Faye Miralles, her staff and some 20 security guards of Millgos Security Agency forcibly entered Kaimo Condominium Building at 101 Quezon Ave. around 4:35 p.m. Thursday.

They padlocked the entrance, cut the telephone line, disabled the security cameras and changed the locks in the tenant units, Kaimo said.

When Kaimo arrived at 7:30 p.m. that day, one of the guards allegedly pointed a shotgun at him. “I was able to disarm him and the guard was subsequently arrested and inquest proceedings were conducted for attempted murder, grave threats and illegal possession of firearms,” Kaimo said.

La Verne’s guards only allowed Kaimo’s staff to leave the building Friday night when the secretary, Ma. Diveca Camu, suffered from hypertension and a TV news crew arrived. They were forced to sign a waiver saying they were not detained before they were released, the complaint said.

The tenants, which include owners of a dental clinic, a driving school, an insurance agency and law offices, were barred from entering unless they sign a new lease contract with the Catolos, Kaimo said.

According to Kaimo’s lawyer, Alben Ferrer, La Verne bought the land when the Quezon City government auctioned it off through a tax sale. He said the owners or occupants of the property were not properly notified. The warrant of levy on the property was addressed to Kaimo’s father who died in 2006.

Kaimo only learned about the sale when a court sheriff told them to vacate the building in February 2013. A Quezon City court later quashed the writ of possession of La Verne on the ground that the building has various unit owners. La Verne elevated the case to the Court of Appeals, where it is still pending.

The Inquirer repeatedly called and sent a text a message to Elizabeth Catolos of La Verne but she has yet to respond at press time.

Last year, the Supreme Court nullified the sale of two lots bought by La Verne in a tax sale held by the Caloocan City government.

In 2011, residents of a low-cost housing project in Barangay Holy Spirit protested an attempt to demolish their homes after La Verne bought the property through an auction of the Quezon City government. The property was covered by Home Guaranty Corp., a government agency mandated to act as trustee of the property.