The human rights risks of ECQ

By: Cody Cepeda - @CCepedaINQ INQUIRER.net / 02:08 PM May 07, 2020

In early April, Duterte himself had warned leftist groups and violators of the ECQ that there would
be no hesitation on his part to order soldiers and the police to shoot and arrest them — an order
which then-presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo was quick to defend as “not a crime.”
The President’s rant, however, was followed by actual cases of abuse at ECQ checkpoints which
may, or may not be, directly attributable to Duterte’s off-the-cuff remarks.
The killing of Winston Ragos, 34, became national news in April after he was fatally shot by Police
Master Sergeant Daniel Florendo at a quarantine checkpoint. Ragos was a retired soldier and
suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which was likely the result of his exposure to
the blood and gore of war, especially on communist rebels.
On April 21, Ragos left his home carrying a sling bag which his family said contained only a water
bottle, quarantine pass, ATM cards, medicines and pictures of his wife and daughter. Ragos would
later on be shot dead by Florendo at an ECQ checkpoint along Maligaya Drive at Barangay Pasong
Putik in Quezon City following an altercation.
According to the Quezon City Police District, Ragos approached Florendo and four police trainees at
the checkpoint and allegedly started shouting. The police officers asked Ragos to go home, but the
retired soldier refused. Police alleged that Ragos had a .38 caliber gun inside his sling bag, which
supposedly prompted Florendo to draw his own gun and ask Ragos to surrender. The police report
added that Florendo was compelled to shoot Ragos when the former soldier allegedly pulled out a
handgun.
Videos of the confrontation that circulated online showed Florendo pointing a gun at Ragos, who
stood on a sidewalk. At one point, Ragos looked as if he was pulling something out of his sling bag,
at which point Florendo opened fire, hitting Ragos twice in the torso. In his last moments, Ragos
managed to take off his bag and throw it at the police officers before dropping to the ground.
Michael Rubuia, a fish vendor
Authorities believed to be from the Office of the Mayor’s Task Force Disiplina in Quezon City also
drew public ire recently when they were found dragging and beating fish vendor Michael Rubuia
for having failed to wear a face mask and carrying a quarantine pass while hawking outdoors.

A video of the incident, which occurred along Panay Avenue at Barangay South Triangle, Quezon
City, made the rounds online the previous week and showed local authorities dragging Rubuia to an
L300 van while another man beat him with a wooden stick. The local government of Quezon City
launched an investigation following the incident, which saw the 60-day suspension of the enforcers
involved. Rubuia was released from detention on April 30.
A 13-year-old boy
A stick was used yet again in another incident on April 28, this time by Cpl. Albert Aquino, to hit an
unidentified 13-year-old boy along Liwanag Street in Barangay Old Balara, Quezon City.
The boy, along with a group of minors, was reportedly playing a game involving coins along the
street when Aquino and barangay officials enforcing lockdown protocol approached them. The
other minors were able to escape except for the 13-year-old boy, who was hit in the back with a
stick by Aquino, and suffered injuries.
The police have said that the boy was injured in the back when he accidentally slipped as he was
fleeing. But the boy’s mother went to the Batasan police station to complain about Aquino using a
baton to whack her son.
The victim’s mother has decided against suing Aquino and the barangay officials. Aquino has also
been relieved of his duty and has been assigned to administrative work. Following the incident,
Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Archie Gamboa reminded his police officers that being tired is
not an excuse to forget police operational procedures.
Golden Mosque Compound resident
Back in March 25, just more than a week after the beginning of the ECQ, a police officer from the
Manila Police District was also caught on video hitting a man with a stick. The man was reported to
be a resident of the Golden Mosque Compound in Quiapo, a heavily populated district in Manila.
In the video, a policeman, who has been confirmed as MPD Station 3 head Lt. Col. Reynaldo
Magdaluyo, can be heard warning people that those caught outside of their houses during the
quarantine would be shot.
At one point, Magdaluyo asked a man, who had a handkerchief tied around his face, why he was
outside. The man showed his quarantine pass, but Magdaluyo replied, “So what? Are you supposed
to use that right now?” before swearing and hitting the man with a stick.
The MPD had said in a statement it would not tolerate “any wrongdoing of any of our policemen
while strictly implementing the enhanced community quarantine.” MPD chief Brig. Gen. Rolando
Miranda also said he would remind his police officers to be “polite in discharging their duties.”
Punishment by summer heat
There was also the case of Noel Japlos, barangay chair of San Isidro in Parañ aque City, who was
accused of “torturing” curfew violators by making them sit in the sweltering heat for an hour.
Japlos, in a now-deleted Facebook post on March 23, uploaded photos of several people who
reportedly violated the 24-hour curfew. In the photos, the people can be seen sitting on monobloc
chairs under the heat of the sun, separated a meter apart, on a court.
Some netizens at the time commented on Japlos’ post, accusing him of torture. Japlos, however, was
quick to clarify the following day that the violators were not punished, but were in fact only asked
to stay outside the barangay hall to maintain social distancing while their names were being listed.
Punishment by sexy dancing and kissing
Another incident in early April saw curfew violators in Barangay Pandacaqui in Mexico, Pampanga
province, ordered to dance provocatively and kiss each other in the lips. The act was reportedly
streamed live on Facebook from what appeared to be the personal account of Pandacaqui’s
barangay captain, Christopher Bombing Punzalan, but has since been deleted.
The incident was seen as an affront to members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender
(LGBTQIA+) community, prompting the Commission on Human Rights to investigate human rights
violations in the town. Punzalan eventually apologized for the punishments following backlash,
according to a report in Rappler on April 7.