A 28-year-old man in the Philippines has died after being forced by village guards to perform an exercise 300 times as punishment for violating the coronavirus quarantine, his family said.
Darler Manaog Peñaredondo was caught after 6pm when he bought drinking water, allegedly in violation of the Covid curfew in the town of General Trias, in Cavite province, Rappler reported. The province is under ‘improved quarantine status’, which includes a curfew rule from 18:00 to 05:00.
Peñaredondo’s partner, Reichelyn Balce, told Rappler that Peñaredondo and another man who allegedly violated Covid restrictions were ‘brought to the Plaza Malabon in front of the municipal hall. And then they were told to do pumping exercises 100 times ”Thursday last week.
Authorities allegedly said the pair would be forced to repeat the exercises if they were not in sync and eventually forced the pair to do the exercise 300 times – a pumping motion similar to squats – Balce said in a Facebook post writing.
Peñaredondo arrived home the next day at 8 a.m. and could barely move without help because he was so tired, Balce wrote. Peñaredondo told Balce that he also fell a few times while performing the exercises.
“That whole day he struggled to walk, he just crawled,” she wrote. Later that day, he had seizures and his heart stopped beating. He was briefly revived, but died around 10 p.m.
The city’s police chief, Lieutenant-Colonel Marlo Nillo Solero, told Rappler that there is no such punishment for people. which violated Covid restrictions. “Instead, we hold lectures,” he said.
The city’s mayor, General Trias mayor Antonio Ferrer, confirmed in a Facebook statement that an investigation is underway.
“Brother goodbye, we love you so much,” Balce wrote. “We will not allow your loss to be given right.”
The Philippine government extended a national exclusion Monday by another week after coronavirus infections began to overwhelm many hospitals in the capital and remote regions.
The Philippines reported more than 795,000 cases with 13,425 deaths, the highest total in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.