A Filipino man has died after he was made to do 300 squat-like exercise by the police for breaking COVID-19 quarantine rules.

Darren Manaog Penaredondo, 28, was caught buying water after 6pm local time last Thursday, at General Trias City in Cavite province.

The province, on the island of Luzon, is under curfew from 6pm to 5am to contain the spread of the virus.

According to The Guardian, Penaredondo and another man who had violated the quarantine were taken to a building in front of the local municipal council after they were caught and made to do 100 push ups.

Both men were told to do the exercise in sync, and that they would have to start all over again if they missed out.

The men ended up doing 300 squat-like exercise, the deceased's partner Reichelyn Balce wrote on Facebook.

Penaredondo reportedly reached home 8am the following day - exhausted and barely able to walk.

"The whole day, he could only crawl," she said. The following day, he suffered a fit and collapsed, before being pronounced dead at 10pm.

Meanwhile, the city's police chief Marlo Nillo Solero denied that COVID-19 rule violators are accorded such harsh punishments, and said they are just "lectured" instead.

A post-mortem report showed that Penarodondo had suffered a stroke, and the family is mulling filing a complaint against the police over the incident.

This is not the first time Filipino authorities have been accused of rights violations. Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch said there had been reported cases of the police and local officials confining rule-breakers in dog cages and forcing them to sit under the midday sun.

During a recent televised address, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte warned citizens not to defy lockdown rules, saying that he had ordered the police and the miliary, as well as village officials, to shoot those who cause trouble and put their lives on danger.


Source: The Guardian
Photo source: Getty Images via BBC/Rappler