By Joseph Almer Pedrajas
A landlady in Caloocan City was accused of trying to evict her pregnant tenant from her rented apartment by removing its roof and door when the latter was not able to pay for the rental fee because of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
(Screenshot from Czairra Cheng's Facebook video / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a video uploaded on Facebook, neighbors of Princess Remureran in Barangay 167 were seen helping her as she kept her appliances and other personal belongings away from getting wet when it started raining. The roof of her house appeared to have been removed.
“Tinanggal ng bubong ng may-ari ng bahay, tinanggalan din ng pinto. Tulong-tulong na lang mga kapitbahay kasi nakatira dito buntis, na-lockdown asawa nya. Anak nya lang kasama nya dito,” a certain Czairra Cheng said while taking a video of Remureran racing to save his belongings from the rain on May 22.
In a radio interview on May 25, Monday, Remureran said that her landlady did this after she could not pay her rent. Although the landlady decided to return the roof several hours after the incident, she said, all of her belongings already got wet.
“‘Yung bubong po ‘yung binalik. Hindi kasama yung pintuan (The roof was returned but not the door),” she said, “Rice cooker po… kinuha nya pa po, kasi nagkokunsomo raw po kami sa kuryente, hindi naman daw po kami nagbabayad ng kuryente (She also got my rice cooker because she said, I am consuming electricity although I’m not paying).”
“Ano pong gagawin namin, lockdown? Wala po kaming pambayad sa kuryente, lockdown pa po,” she added.
Defensively, the landlady said she did this because, aside from the rent, Remureran allegedly has not paid for the rice she owes her.
The Caloocan City government said that the incident has already been settled in the barangay. Mayor Oca Malapitan would also be giving financial assistance and food packs to the said resident.