Demolition turns into throwing contest; 7 hurt

NERISSA dela Casa, 59, laments the loss of her house, one of around 100 ordered demolished by the court on Dagat-dagatan Avenue, Caloocan City. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

AN HOUR-LONG standoff on Monday between a demolition team backed up by policemen and residents of a disputed private property in Caloocan City left seven people injured.

Of the seven, six were policemen who suffered minor injuries after they were hit by rocks, pieces of wood, bottles and plastic bags containing waste. The seventh was a member of the demolition team who was struck by a bullet believed to have been fired by several residents carrying improvised firearms.

Injured were PO1 Efhrim Marcelino, PO1 Mark Alolor, PO1 Rondio Cuevas Jr., PO1 Luem Gonzales, PO1 Ralph Bayaua and PO1 Peter Pedregosa, all assigned with the Northern Police District’s Public Safety Battalion.

Case investigator SPO2 Eduardo Tribiana of the Caloocan police, meanwhile, said that Raulito Mahinay, 23, the demolition team member, was taken to the hospital for a gunshot wound in the body. He was later discharged after treatment.

The demolition came after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Corazon Baello who had been locked in a decades-long court battle with the National Housing Authority over ownership of the 8,000-sqm Block 51 property on Dagat-dagatan Avenue in Barangay 8, Caloocan City.

After an hour-long standoff marked by projectile throwing and sporadic gunfire on Monday morning, defiant residents backed off, allowing the demolition to push through.