The officials of a barangay in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, where the viral "lugaw" incident happened, have asked for an apology following the incident and said they did not mean to "harass" the food delivery rider when they went to his house Thursday night.
In an eight-minute video posted on Barangay Muzon's Facebook page Friday, Phez Raymundo, the barangay personnel who barred rider Marvin Ignacio from delivering lugaw to his customer, said it was not her intention to "offend" the public by saying lugaw was not essential. She admitted using the wrong words when she also explained the quarantine protocols to Ignacio.
"Hindi ko po gusto na ma-offend kayo. 'Yun po ay hindi intensyonal dahil po late na po ng madaling araw yun, napagod din po ata ako. Nagkamali ng pagpili ng salita na hindi po akma doon sa aking pinapaliwanag... So pasensya po ulit sa lahat at sa publiko (I didn't want to offend you. What happened was not intentional. I might just be tired at that time. I used words that were not appropriate when I was explaining the protocols. I apologize to everyone and the public)," Raymundo said.
The barangay personnel who allegedly intimidated Ignacio after the incident went viral, said they also had "no intention to harass" the rider when they went to his house during the curfew hours of Thursday, which left the latter in fear for his safety.
"Wala po kaming intensyon na sila ay harassin o masaktan. Ang gusto lang po namin, ibigay yung papel para may kopya sila. Pasensya na Marvin pati na sa may-ari ng Lugaw Pilipinas (We had no intention to harass or hurt him. What we just wanted to do was to bring him the copy of the order for the lugaw store. I'm sorry Marvin and to the owner of Lugaw Pilipinas store)," he said. "Asahan nyo pong hindi na ito mauulit (Expect that this will not happen again)."
Marciano Gatchalian, chairman of Barangay Muzon, also appeared in the video and asked for an apology on behalf of his men.
He said they came up with the video to "show" that he "would not tolerate" any erring behavior committed by his personnel.
"Lagi ko pong pinapaalala sa kanila na maging magalang, tama ang approach sa pakikipag-usap, lagi pong may maximum tolerance (I would always remind them to be respectful and be mindful when talking to people and observe maximum tolerance)," Gatchalian said.
A Facebook Live taken by Ignacio went viral Wednesday after personnel from Barangay Muzon barred him from delivering lugaw to his customer in the area. The personnel said lugaw was not essential, so it could not be allowed.
On Thursday night, Ignacio took to Facebook again to ask for help after several "suspicious" men, who turned out to be barangay personnel, allegedly intimidated him.