MikeLigalig.com

VERA Files – Tue, Dec 24, 2013
By ACE ESMERALDA


(Security expert Ace Esmeralda wrote the following observations based on the statements of Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay, the Dasmariñas Village security, Makati Chief of Police, Right Eight Security agency and the video of the incident.)


IF a picture paints a thousand words, a 15-minute video paints a million.

The video taken almost midnight of Nov. 30, 2013 showed a convoy of four SUVs near the boom barrier at the Banyan Road gate of Dasmariñas Village in Makati City. One guard is seen approaching the lead vehicle, most likely to explain the village rules that that particular gate is closed at 10 p.m.

But the convoy had already squeezed itself too close that backing up is the only option to get to the other gate. Sad to say, based on the body language of persons in the video, the convoy expected the guards to raise the boom barrier and let it quickly leave the premises. When the guards refused, some security escorts alighted from the SUVs and manhandled the guards. Under duress, the guards called for reinforcement.

The convoy apparently also called for help because Makati City police personnel arrived at the scene and lifted the barrier blocking its way. Police officers approached the security guards and brought the guards with them.

The video captured a tense situation.

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The village manager

I would recommend to the Board of Directors of the homeowners association the immediate change of agency but retention of the guards. The agency, represented by its owners or management, cannot speak for the village and for the homeowners association. The agency should not contradict the statement and position of the village homeowners, especially in public.

I would commend the guards for doing their job, their post duties and responsibilities, and for alerting mobile responders under duress.

I would consult our legal counsel to see if there were violations of law like unlawful arrest and detention. The video showed coercion and manhandling by both escorts and responding policemen of the security guards.

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As a citizen

I would request the mayor and the senator to retrain or replace their security personnel who placed them in harm’s way. The security escorts failed to coordinate with the village administration their departure through a restricted gate. The lead vehicle assumed that they were exempted from village rules because they were in a convoy bearing the mayor and the senator. The lead car entrapped itself in front of the boom barrier, guard house and steel gate. The other drivers parked their vehicles too close to each other that they could simply maneuver without backing up.

The security escorts failed to secure their perimeter the moment the convoy was stopped, especially after the mayor alighted. One escort was busy with an umbrella for the gentleman mayor but not for the lady senator.

The escorts exposed the mayor to the risk of being injured or killed by several 2,000-pound weapons that were passing the street in high speed. They exposed the mayor and the senator for 15 minutes to a potential shootout instead of extricating the convoy out of the scene. They revealed that they move around with unloaded weapons. The escorts, especially the one in a vest, acted in an arrogant manner—manhandling the uniformed security guards, grabbing the logbook, and treating the supposed “force multipliers” as criminals, threat forces or enemies.

I would ask for the relief of the police chief who obviously came up with “after the fact” justifications that contradicted each other and the actions of his policemen as seen in the video. He tried hard to justify the actions of the escorts and policemen by saying the guards showed their shotguns. I still have to see a guard holstering or concealing his shotgun while on duty. Is the chief of police serving only the mayor?

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