MMDA suspends 3 men in ‘buko’ vendor’s mauling

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has placed three of its personnel under preventive suspension for 15 days after they mauled a coconut vendor, saying their actions will not be tolerated by the agency despite the circumstances.

The three, who were not identified, were ordered suspended starting on March 5.

Acting MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia said on Monday that members of the Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group (SCOG) involved in Friday’s incident would be tested for drugs because of their response to Romnick Relos’ “provocation.”

But at the same time, Garcia also asked Relos to submit himself to a drug test to dispel any questions about his condition at the time of the incident.

Relos went to the MMDA on Monday to say that he was bent on filing charges against the SCOG personnel who mauled him.

He added that he wanted them dismissed because of the “inhumane” way they treated him while confiscating his cart.

Relos stuck to his version of Friday’s events, telling MMDA officials that he was not obstructing traffic because he was under the pedestrian footbridge at Edsa-Evangelista in Pasay City.