(Screenshots from an online video)
The cases concern the current unresolved stand-off at Makati Park and Garden located in Barangay West Rembo, Taguig City.
Three cases of illegal detention, covered by Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code, and a case of grave coercion under Article 286 of the Code were filed against Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano, Taguig City Administrator Jose Luis Montales, Maria Theresa Veloso, the head of the Business Permits and Licensing Office, Danny Cañaveral, the head of the Traffic Management Office (TMO), and several individuals claiming to be staff of the Taguig City government.
In an affidavit by Salvador Palisa, an employee of the Makati Department of Environmental Services (DES) in charge of maintaining Makati Park and Garden, he claimed he was detained in the park for two days starting on the morning of March 1, Friday.
(Photo by Dek Terante)
In his statement, individuals claiming to be employees of Taguig's TMO arrived at the park at 7:45 in the morning on Friday, and allegedly immediately locked the gates and blocked all entrances to the park while Palisa and his colleagues were still inside. They were reportedly threatened if they attempted to leave and anyone wishing to enter the park was also prohibited.
Another complainant, Salvador Mercado, an employee of the Garbage Section of the DES Solid Waste Management Division, said he was detained at the Makati Park Amphitheater for a day on March 2 because the park gate was also allegedly locked by individuals claiming to be personnel from Taguig.
The third complainant, Ryalyn Almazar from the Youth and Sports Development Department (YSDD) and supervisor of the Makati Aquatic Sports Arena (MASA), claimed she was detained in the park on the morning of March 3.
(Photo by Dek Terante)
According to Almazar, around 7:45 in the morning, men in civilian clothes, wearing sunglasses and bandana face coverings, removed Makati tarpaulins in the park. Allegedly, these individuals were accompanied by uniformed Taguig staff, and they replaced the Makati tarpaulins they had removed from the park with Taguig ones.
Following this, the men allegedly locked the MASA gate despite their pleas.
Almazar stated that they were able to eat only when a colleague outside passed food through the gate slits, and they did not manage to secretly slip out until 3:00 in the afternoon, with the help of a male colleague who passed through a narrow passage at the back near the Pasig River.
In another complaint, a YSDD employee named Joven Mediavillo reported that he was about to enter MASA as a medic around 1:00 in the afternoon on March 3 when he saw that the MASA gate was padlocked and a patrol vehicle was blocking it.
According to Mediavillo's statement, a man wearing a Taguig vest yelled at him and prohibited him from entering. The man allegedly told Mediavillo that the prohibition came from the Taguig government. Furthermore, the man reportedly became angry when Mediavillo said that he needed to enter to perform his duty.
According to the Makati City Hall employees who filed the case, based on their affidavits, they were intimidated and detained against their will by Taguig employees. They were allegedly told that the Taguig City government ordered their actions.
Under the three violations of Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code that were filed, the complainants suggest that their freedom was violated by being detained in the park, which they consider serious illegal detention.
The fourth Makati City employee filed a violation of Article 286, relating to stopping someone from performing a lawful act, forcing someone to act against their will, and threatening or intimidating.
