Taguig, Makati cops engage in standoff over border dispute

According to the official website of Makati City, 50 members of the Taguig Public Order and Safety Office and some Taguig policemen engaged Makati policemen in a standoff at the intersection of Lawton and Kalayaan streets.

 

The Makati website, quoting reports reaching the Mayor Junjun Binay's office, a mobile car from the Makati police was patrolling the area around 6 p.m. when the policemen on board noticed a service vehicle following them.

 

The policemen stopped and asked the occupants of the vehicle why they were following the mobile car and if they had seen persons allegedly removing streamers along Kalayaan Avenue. 

 

Instead of answering the policemen, the Taguig POSO members radioed their companions who immediately appeared and surrounded the Makati policemen. The Makati policemen then radioed for assistance from headquarters.

 

When the Makati police chief Manuel Lukban Jr. arrived at the scene around 7:45 p.m., the Taguig POSO men were reinforced by policemen and a SWAT team. Makati had dispatched five patrol cars and 25 policemen.

 

Lukban had a dialog with the POSO members and invited their team leaders to a meeting with the Taguig police chief where he gave them copies of the Court of Appeals decision. Both parties dispersed from the site after the dialog.

 

In a statement, Binay said that similar actions and incursion into Makati barangays will not be tolerated.

 

"They are sowing panic in our barangays. They have no right to be in Makati. This will not be tolerated," he said.

 

He said that the CA has already lifted an injunction order that prohibited Makati from exercising jurisdiction over the Inner Fort and the some barangays. 

 

"If they have evidence, bring it to the courts," Binay added.

 

Binay said the order of the CA lifting the injunction order is immediately executory. While Taguig may appeal the ruling, Makati is no longer restrained from resuming jurisdiction over the area, he said.

 

Last Aug.  5, the CA Sixth Division issued a ruling dated July 30, 2013 on the long-running territorial dispute between the two cities, upholding Makati’s jurisdiction over the more than 729-hectare portion of Fort Bonifacio. 

 

It has ordered Taguig "to immediately cease and desist from exercising jurisdiction within the disputed area and return the same to Makati."