A coconuts vendor in Pasay City has had a rollercoaster of a week. On Tuesday, he was arrested for alleged murder after police found out about him through a now-viral video of him being mauled by employees of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
Romnick Relos first came to the public’s eye on Friday when Facebook user Mhean Capaycapay posted a video of him being beaten up by the MMDA’s Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group (SCOG). He had been selling coconuts on the sidewalk, which is illegal in Metro Manila.
“Guys, let’s help kuya (a term of respect in Filipino). To the abusive MMDA, let’s say it is illegal to sell where he was, but why did you have to beat him up? He was willing to move locations peacefully and even asked for your consideration,” Capaycapay said in Filipino on her Facebook caption.
The MMDA operatives said that what they did was in self-defense because Relos allegedly threw a chunk of ice at them. Still, netizens were sympathetic towards Relos, with many sharing the Facebook video and calling for justice.
The original post has been shared more than 400,000 times and has 98,000 reactions. But while getting support from thousands of people would usually be a happy ending, that’s not how it turned out for Relos.
Days after the post went viral, police found out that Relos and his brothers were allegedly involved in a 2007 murder case in Masbate, a province in the Bicol Region more than 500 kilometers away from Manila. Reports say that they killed a man named Junie Olete in front of his wife on March 25 of that year.
“When he was seen in a TV interview regarding the buko (coconut) vendor-MMDA incident, so many tipped us that we need to arrest him because he had been hiding for a long time. His [murder] case happened in 2007. It’s been 11 years,” Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director Roel Obusan told reporters in Filipino.
Obusan assured that this murder case will not affect the investigation on the MMDA operatives; three of those involved in the mauling incident were suspended on Monday.
Relos and his two brothers are currently in police custody in Camp Crame.
