Man arrested for punching MMDA enforcer

A man was arrested for punching a Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) enforcer after a clearing operation in Pasay City.

According to a Saksi report by Nico Waje on Wednesday, CCTV footage showed the suspect taking a video of two MMDA enforcers on a motorcycle during one of their operations at F.B. Harrison Street.

“Dinuduldol yung cellphone sa akin na, ‘Oh, vivideohan kita’… Di ko muna pinapansin. Sinabi ko, ‘pinilit kunin yan, pero di talaga kakayanin’,” said Emerson Pagala, the enforcer.

(He was shoving his phone at me saying, “Oh, I’m taking a video of you’… I ignored him at first. I said, ‘We tried to take it, but we really couldn’t’)

Pagala pushed the hand of the man away from him which caused the latter's cellphone to fall on the ground.

Several persons tried to intervene and there was a brief discussion.  During this time, the man threw another punch at Pagala causing his fall.

Pagala said that the suspect was upset when the enforcers towed only his car during the operation and questioned why no other vehicles were towed.

The man also said that he lost his temper when Pagala pushed his phone away.  He also said he only punched the enforcer once.

“Nagtanong lang naman ako. Iba yung sagot niya. Parang napundi po ako. Yung cellphone ko po kasi na pinangvivideo ko sa kaniya, tinapik niya na nabasag. Tumilapon. Siguro mga tatlong metro yung tinapunan,” said the suspect.

(I was only asking. He answered something else. I lost my temper. He pushed the phone that I was using to take a video of him, and it broke. It probably fell around three meters away)

During his arrest, authorities were also able to find 0.2 grams of suspected shabu.  

“Kung sa akin nakita, ‘yun na po siguro (If they saw it with me, I guess that’s it),” he said.

Meanwhile, MMDA Strike Force officer-in-charge Gabriel Go said that it wasn’t always possible to bring enough tow trucks during clearing operations.

“Ang towing naman po kasi natin, kung lahat po yan, let’s say sa isang kalsada, ay 30 [na] sasakyan, we have to bring 30 tow trucks. So, we cannot do that always. So, merong mga instances na mayroon tayong sasakyan na di natotow. Ang ginagawa po natin dito, iniisyuhan natin ng ticket,” said Go.

(It's impossible to bring 30 tow trucks if for example, we need to tow 30 trucks along a street. What we do is we issue a ticket)

MMDA is now looking into enlisting the assistance of the police on future operations.

“Dahil ayaw naman po natin maulit at ayaw din natin na may masaktan. Hindi lang ang ating enforcers, but also ang publiko,” he added.

(We don’t want it to happen again, and we don’t want anyone to get hurt, not just our enforcers, but the public as well.)

The suspect will face charges for indirect assault and violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/LDF, GMA Integrated News