BF Homes security officer to arrest guards peddling tickets

The Parañaque City government has issued an order for the chief security officer manning the gates of the BF Homes Subdivision to apprehend security guards who are reportedly forcing motorists passing through the village gates to buy stickers sold by the United BF Homeowners Association Inc. (UBFHAI).

This developed after the city government received several complaints from motorists that security guards assigned at the Tirona and Concha Cruz gates were running after them and were demanding that they buy stickers being issued by the UBFHAI.

Nelson Lacambra, spokesperson of Mayor Florencio Bernabe, said these guards are being apprehended so that appropriate sanctions will be imposed upon them. He said these are the security guards assigned at the gates where control by the UBFHAI is still strongly felt. "We are not encountering any problem anymore concerning the Aguirre, Elizalde and Lopez gates. Right now, complaints we’ve been receiving since last week are from motorists passing the Tirona and Concha Cruz gates," he said.

In 2004, Bernabe opened the said gates to the public following complaints from establishment owners concerning the "gate pass" fee of P200 to P500 being imposed by the UBFHAI to their delivery vehicles. However, the subdivision’s security guards took over the manning of the gates immediately after the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) issued a cease-and-desist order following an appeal made by the UBFHAI.

Lacambra said that the city government afterwards filed an answer and that presently, the case is again pending before the sala of Judge Alberto Lerma of the Muntinlupa RTC. "This meant a status quo, and that it is the city government that should for now govern the village gates pending a resolution from the court," he added. — Rhodina Villanueva