Homeowners condemn Parañaque village raid

Residents of Multinational Village are expressing outrage after more than 200 police officers from the Southern Police District (SPD) allegedly stormed the village’s country club in a pre-dawn operation on Thursday.

Witnesses said the officers entered the country club without authorization, sparking condemnation from the community and their leaders, who accused the police of acting illegally to reinstate the village’s ousted president, Arnel Gacutan.

Julio Templonuevo, the newly elected president of the Multinational Village Houseowners Association Inc. (MVHAI), said the operation, which occurred around 5 a.m., took place long before the association’s regular office hours, leaving no officials present to intervene. Homeowners on the scene reportedly protested the officers’ entry, but their objections were ignored.

The homeowners association also pointed fingers at Arnel Gacutan, the village’s former president, claiming he was behind the raid. Allegedly, Gacutan has been permanently disqualified from holding any elective office by both the Court of Appeals and the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC) for his failure to disclose the association’s financial records.

Despite these legal rulings, Gacutan has allegedly sought the backing of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development to regain control of the association, particularly through the influence of Atty. Norman Jacinto Doral, the DHSUD-NCR’s officer-in-charge.

In a separate legal victory for the current MVHAI board, the HSAC reaffirmed the disqualification of Gacutan’s 2019 board of directors just months ago, further underscoring his ineligibility.