Enforcer clearing Mabuhay Lanes killed

A Quezon City traffic enforcer was shot dead by a bank security officer as he was issuing a violation ticket during a Mabuhay Lanes clearing operation on West Avenue on Wednesday morning.

Enrique Fresnido, 60, a member of the city’s Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS), was shot in the head by Alex Batacan, 39, officer in charge of security at BDO West Avenue-East Maya branch in Quezon City, around 7:30 a.m., a police report said.

Fresnido was rushed to the Quezon City General Hospital where he was declared dead about three hours later. Batacan, on the other hand, was placed under arrest with a murder charge being prepared against him.

The incident happened as enforcers of the DPOS, Highway Patrol Group and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority were clearing Mabuhay Lanes—designated alternate routes for motorists wanting to avoid heavy traffic on Edsa—of obstructions and parked vehicles as part of preparations for next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Some of the motorcycles belonged to the bank security guards and Batacan interfered, Roseller Arbolado, chief of the enforcement section under the DPOS traffic operation division, said.

Instead of towing the motorcycles, Fresnido wrote a violation ticket as he and other enforcers were instructed to do whenever the owner of a vehicle was around, the victim’s colleagues said.

Batacan, however, went inside the bank, returned with a gun and shot Fresnido.

“We didn’t expect that he would do that over a violation ticket [with a fine of P350],” a traffic enforcer said of Batacan.

The clearing of Mabuhay Lanes has been met with resistance by local leaders, particularly barangay officials who collect parking fees. With Ria Consuelo Mendoza