5 Parañaque task force members to face dismissal, admin cases over violent arrest of vendor

MANILA, Philippines — Five members of the Parañaque City Task Force are facing termination and administrative cases for the use of “excessive force” in arresting a vendor during its clearing operations, Mayor Edwin Olivarez  said Monday.

“We will not tolerate this. Immediately, the city government, our office, pina-suspend po natin yung ating pong limang task force na iyon,” he said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.

(We will not tolerate this. Immediately, the city government, our office suspended the five members of the task force.)

“Magkakaroon po kami ng thorough investigation, pag napatunayan po yan—at kitang-kita naman po sa video—they will be terminated and sila po ay kakasuhan for abuse of authority,” he added.

Paranaque CityMayor Edwin Olivarez. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

(We will conduct a thorough investigation, if it’s proven—which the video clearly showed—they will be terminated and they will be charged for abuse of authority.)

The viral video showed more than five members of the Parañaque City Task Force aggressively arresting the vendor, after he apparently did not surrender his “kariton” (pushcart).

Save this video pls. https://t.co/2aKAs3Ho1a

— Federico Pascual🇵🇭 (@FDPascual) January 22, 2021

“Dito sa video nakita po natin na gumamit sila ng excessive force na hindi po natin tino-tolerate po ito,” Olivarez said.

(In the video, we saw that they used excessive force, which we do not tolerate.)

According to the Parañaque mayor, the task force personnel should have only issued the vendor an official violation receipt (OVR) for refusing to give up his pushcart.

“Ang protocol natin, bibigyan ng notice dapat si Warren (vendor) o kung sino man yung may obstruction sa kalsada, voluntarily dapat tatanggalin po niya ‘yan,” he said.

(Our protocol is that Warren should be issued a notice, he should voluntarily remove his belongings.)

“Kung di po siya tinanggal po, bibigyan po siya ng OVR, yung ating pong official violation receipt na meron siyang na-violate na ordinansa city government of Parañaque. Yan po ang protocol,” he added.

(If he refuses, the protocol is to give him an OVR, or the official violation receipt that he violated a Parañaque City ordinance.)

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