Philippines man dies after allegedly doing 300 squats for breaking Covid-19 curfew

The man was allowed to return home the next morning but had a convulsion, went into a coma and died around 10pm. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

MANILA (PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Human rights group Karapatan on Monday (April 5) called for an immediate investigation on the reported death of a male curfew violator in General Trias City, Cavite province, who allegedly died after he was forced to undergo a body pumping exercise 300 times before he was freed.

Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said they were distressed by the report circulating on social media, and if it were true, it should be investigated as "possible violations of the anti-torture law, among others".

Earlier, the League of Filipino Students from University of the Philippines Los Banos reported on its Facebook page the death of Mr Darren Manaog, whose age was not provided. He was allegedly made to perform more than 300 strenuous body pumping as punishment after allegedly violating curfew hours.

Quoting supposed information from the victim's family, the student league said that Mr Manaog was about to buy water when he was arrested by policemen last Thursday.

Mr Manaog was allowed to return home the next morning but had a convulsion, went into a coma and died around 10pm the same day, the group said.

Cavite province, now under the strictest enhanced community quarantine status to curb the rise of Covid-19 cases, imposes curfew hours from 6pm to to 5am.

In a phone interview, Lieutenant-Colonel Marlo Celero, the General Trias police chief, denied that local policemen were involved, saying they had no record of the arrest of one Darren Manaog as quarantine violator last Thursday night.

"Upon our investigation, we found out that one Darren Penaredondo was arrested not by policemen, but by barangay tanod (watchmen) in Barangay Tejero on Thursday night," Col Celero said, adding that the police would investigate the claim.

Mr Adrian Lucena, the source of the student league information, said on Facebook that his "Kuya Darren Manaog" was arrested by policemen last Thursday night and was made to go through the strenuous exercise. He said that Mr Manaog returned home at 8am the next day and could barely walk.

Mr Lucena has not responded to interview requests.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.