Breaks quarantine: 28-year-old dies after police force him to do 300 squats

A 28-year-old man from the Philippines died after being allegedly forced by village police to perform an exercise 300 times as a punishment for violating the coronavirus quarantine, his family said.

Darren Manaog Peñaredondo was caught buying drinking water after 6pm, allegedly in violation of the Covid curfew in the town of General Trias, in the province of Cavite, reports Rappler. The province is under "extended community quarantine status" which includes a curfew from 6pm to 5am.

Darren's partner, Reichelyn Balce, told Rappler that Darren and another man who also allegedly violated Covid restrictions were "brought to Plaza Malabon in front of the town hall. And then they were told to pump 100 times." last Thursday.

It is thought that the authorities forced them to repeat the exercises if they were not in sync and eventually forced them to do some squats-like exercises, 300 times, Reichelyn wrote in a Facebook post.

Darren arrived home at 8 a.m. the next day and could barely move without help because he was very tired, she wrote. Darren told his partner that he had fallen "several times" while performing the exercises. "He tried to walk all day, but just crawled," she wrote. Later that day, he started having seizures and his heart stopped. He was mentioned for a short time, but died around 22:00. "

City police chief Lt. Col. Marlo Nillo Solero told Rappler there was no such punishment for people violating Covid restrictions. "Instead, we conduct lectures," he said. The mayor, Trias Antonio Ferrer, confirmed in a Facebook statement that an investigation was under way.