By Cherrie Anne E. Villahermosa
Variety News Staff

DEPARTMENT of Public Safety Commissioner Rebecca M. Warfield says police officers accused of brutality by Tanapag garment factory workers “acted correctly.”
Warfield said yesterday that police officers’ safety and that of the people who were being held against their will was put at risk when workers at Top Fashion Corp. prevented employers from leaving the premises on Monday.
She said a preliminary investigation was conducted to assess the sit-in protest which led to the hostage situation.
Some workers who were arrested and injured in that incident alleged police brutality but Warfield said the officers had to resort to pepper mace to secure their own safety as well as that of the people in the building that they were escorting out.
“My understanding is that the case is a bit unique,” she said. “Every one has the right to protest, the right to speak — but when we protest or speak, it definitely doesn’t allow you to break the law or violate the rights of others or hold people against their will and use it to get what you want.”
Warfield said the officers were “well-versed” in handling such situations.
“We handled a situation like this before when an L&T factory closed. Officers have to assess things on a case-to-case basis. Our assessment is that the officers’ safety was put at risk as well as the safety of the people being held against their will,” Warfield said.
She added, “There are degrees of force and our assessment, so far, is that the officers acted correctly. The officers try different levels before engaging in pepper macing because they don’t take its use lightly. They were trained recently in the use of pepper mace and any use of force is always the last resort for members of the department.”
According to Warfield, “Some people had to be physically restrained from attacking the people who were held against their will and the officers did not use force to get those individual. There was some physical confrontation between the officers and the workers but the only purpose of that was to secure the people who were being held in that room and to get them out of there.”
Warfield said there is no need for an internal investigation since they have already conducted a preliminary investigation of the incident.
“I don’t think this needs a further internal investigation. However, if complaints persist then, of course, we will look into them. Our preliminary determination is that the only force used was that which was necessary under the circumstances,” Warfield said.
About a hundred Top Fashion Corp. workers demanding reimbursement of the $3,000 to $4,000 recruitment fees they paid held a sit-in protest on Monday near the manager’s office in Tanapag.
The workers later prevented office employees from leaving the premises.
Seven workers were arrested and several were injured and taken to the hospital for treatment.