Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 9) — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte wants local police to reinstate the cop who said enforcers stopped traffic on Commonwealth Avenue on Oct. 5 to allow Vice President Sara Duterte’s convoy to pass, saying this is to correct an “injustice” against a person who was only doing his job.
Belmonte on Sunday said she made the call following the statement of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) that granting courtesy to Very Important Persons (VIPs) on public roads is a common practice.
“We extend courtesy especially to the President and Vice President because they have security concerns and not for anything else, like privilege and entitlement,” MMDA acting chairman Rolando Artes said.
Artes added that the courtesy extends to foreign dignitaries such as heads of state visiting the country. He explained that in such cases the MMDA would devise a traffic management strategy to avoid traffic jams.
“Following the clarification made by Chairman Artes, I feel that an injustice was committed against Pantollano and must be rectified, regardless of who the VIP was. The cop must be reinstated as he was simply doing his job,” Belmonte said.
The mayor said she initially refrained from intervening when the police officer from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) was relieved of duty because she thought he did something wrong by stopping traffic.
Belmonte noted that the QCPD did not relieve nor take any action against the MMDA personnel who were present in the same viral video.
The police officer, identified as Executive Master Sergeant Verdo Pantollano, gained widespread attention in a video that went viral Oct. 5 where he said that the closure of a section on Commonwealth Ave. was to give way for the vice president’s convoy. The VP’s office said Duterte was in Butuan City at that time for the celebration of National Teachers’ Day.
A statement for the QCPD Station 14 earlier said the incident “stemmed from a confusion and lapse in judgement of our policeman manning the traffic during that time.”
