Real estate couple, guards jailed for illegal takeover

A MONTH after they were arrested for illegally occupying a building in Quezon City, a couple involved in the real estate business were apprehended and detained anew for the same offense last week.

Arrested along with Elizabeth and Anthony Catolos of Laverne Real Property and Development Corp. were the 15 security guards who helped them take over a 3,000-sq-m prime lot in Caloocan City.

According to the police, the couple and their security guards broke into the gated compound on Dagat-dagatan Street on Thursday morning.

“They welded the gate [shut] to make it permanent and prevent trucks owned by their complainant from leaving the compound,” said Senior Supt. Bartolome Bustamante, Caloocan City police chief.

Following their arrest Friday for taking over the land currently occupied by Benjamin Ang Sy of Happy Chef Inc., the Catoloses were charged with serious illegal detention and grave coercion. The two parties have been fighting over the property since 2011.

The Inquirer tried to get a comment from the couple inside their detention room in Caloocan police station on Sunday but was turned down twice. Elizabeth also refused to give her lawyer’s name and number.

This was not the first time the Catoloses figured in the alleged illegal takeover of a property. In October, they used the same modus operandi to occupy a commercial building in Quezon City.

They were later charged with slight physical injuries and maltreatment on top of illegal possession of firearms for taking over the building owned by Gerardo Kaimo and detaining its occupants for more than 24 hours.

However, the couple were not detained because the Quezon City police opted not to arrest them but to just file charges against them.

This time, however, they were apprehended, detained and charged.

“Aside from taking over the land, Elizabeth also badmouthed the [policemen] and barangay officials. She even told our head investigator, Chief Insp. Ilustre Mendoza: ‘You’re just a policeman. I can have you fired. I do not trust the police, barangay or justice system,’” Bustamante said.

The commotion in Caloocan City started around 5:30 a.m. on Thursday. Bustamante said the couple led 15 security guards from Milgos Security Agency—seven of them armed with shotguns—in driving out Sy’s tenants.

Out of fear, some of the occupants left. But about 10 people chose to stay to guard their belongings and the trucks parked inside the compound.

Bustamante said Anthony even went to his office around 9 a.m. that day to ask for police assistance in securing “their property.”

“I told him we couldn’t [help] him because we needed a court order first. He also didn’t tell me about the takeover. An hour after we left, I was surprised because Sy went to my office to inform me of what’s happening,” Bustamante added.

The Catoloses occupied the area for more than 24 hours. Sy’s occupants, who remained inside, were not barred from leaving although they were told that once outside, they could never come back.

“They couldn’t even go out to eat,” said Bustamante. “We had to give them food provisions over the fence….”

Several policemen were deployed to the site, including the Special Weapons and Tactics unit. But Bustamante said they did not break into the compound immediately for two reasons. One, the guards were armed and they wanted to prevent possible bloodshed. Second, a dispute over property was considered a civil case.

“But when they started welding the gates [shut] on Thursday night, the police decided it was time to arrest them. They can’t do that,” he said.

The takeover ended about 6 p.m. Friday with the arrest of the couple and the disarming of their guards. They were charged the following day in the office of the city prosecutor who downgraded the charges to slight illegal detention and recommended bail of P39,000 for each of them.