Barely a week after the controversial police shooting of an ex-military man and the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s implementation of arrest against enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) violators without warning, comes a video showing a policeman arresting a man inside his property in Dasmariñas Village, Makati on Sunday, Apr. 26 surfaces, adding yet another dimension to the increased police and military presence amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
[READ: Increasing police, military presence in ECQ raise questions on probability of martial law lockdown]
At 6 p.m. on the said date, uniformed men set out to fine Javier Salvador Parra for a household staff’s failure to wear a mask while watering plants within their property. Parra talked to the men, one in fatigues and the other in a black ensemble, that such a sanction was unnecessary. The video taken by Parra’s wife cuts to the part where he was forcibly taken by the man in fatigues, trying to hold him down despite his refusal and his wife’s continuous pleading because of his health.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9TsivOM7cs&feature=emb_title
Parra was then held down to the ground as his wife tells the uniformed man that they can’t arrest her husband without a warrant. At the end of the two-minute video, the policemen seem to have left the property as Parra successfully evades an arrest.
In a message to Rappler, whom Parra reached out to immediately after the incident, he said he went outside to inquire why the policeman would want to collect P1,000 and told him frankly that a fine isn’t necessary as it occurred on a private property.
“I wasn’t aware that there is a law saying that inside your own property you must wear a face mask,” Parra said. Due to the altercation, he said he sustained abrasions on his elbows and hands after the assault.
Another unverified video supposedly taken by the policeman in black minutes before the assault shows Parra and the other uniformed man having an altercation, with the former raising his voice and mouthing expletives at the cop who was repeatedly saying “You are shouting at me.”
But was Parra’s wife right that police cannot arrest her husband without a warrant for alleged violation of quarantine rules committed by one of his employees?
Yes.
So, can you be arrested for not wearing a mask outside your home but still within your property?
According to the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), that issued a primer on the rights of citizens amid the ECQ, “the police cannot arrest a person who went out of the house and does not have a face mask, did not bring/does not have quarantine pass or relief pass, or did not follow the social distancing rule or curfew.”
[READ: Want to know if you can go outside during the ECQ? Check out this guide]
NUPL told Bulatlat that such acts are not in the list of prohibited or punishable acts under the Republic Act 11469 or Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. Neither is it outlined in the other laws cited earlier last week by PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa as grounds for warrantless arrests such as Republic Act No. 11332 or Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.
[READ: PNP arrests ECQ violators without warning starting today]
Neither can Parra be fined P100-P500 for “resisting or seriously disobeying any person in authority, or the agents of such person, while engaged in the performance of official duties” as stated in Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code or Resistance and Disobedience to Persons in Authority or Agents of Such Persons. The crime under Article 151, to be charged must be shown to be in relation to a valid arrest. If the arrest is proven to be illegal then no case under this Article will prosper as well.
“It should not be lost sight of that this is a prosecution for slight disobedience, not for violation of the ordinance. Although petitioner may have legitimate reason to protest the order of the chief of police, he was not justified in disobeying him and in assuming a bellicose attitude by exhorting his followers to proceed with their meeting, as in fact the latter did,” a legal counsel Nolisoli.ph consulted said weighing in on the issue.
Statement from Makati spox, city legal officer Michael Camiña: Mayor Abby Binay has ordered the Makati Police to conduct an immediate inquiry into the reported incident at Dasmariñas Village involving policemen and a resident. | @dexcabalzaINQ
— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) April 27, 2020
In any case, NUPL said it is best to document any incidents of abuse as the Parras did and even go as far as identify the authorities involved, as such details can be used as evidence in filing criminal, civil or administrative charges.
According to a report, Makati Police will file charges against Parra for violating ECQ measures, adding that he was also under the influence of alcohol during the altercation with two uniformed men inside Dasmariñas Village.
Dasmariñas Brgy. Captain Rosanna Hwang defended the police who was on duty when the incident happened saying “The resident was on the street and the sidewalk which belongs to the Dasmariñas Village Association (DVA) common area, therefore a public place. He was committing a crime in the presence of the officer and could be arrested even if he retreated to his property, barangay was advised.”
On the helper’s alleged violation, Hwang said the officer only reminded the staff of the resident to wear a mask or she will be fined according to a Makati ordinance issued Apr. 14 which imposes a fine of P1,000 for people who do not wear a mask outdoors or in public.
Header photo screenshot from video by the Makati Police
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