MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Two security guards belonging to different agencies were found dead in Burgundy Plaza, a residential building along Katipunan Avenue in Barangay Loyola Heights, Quezon City Friday afternoon, May 11.

According to the initial police report, there appears to have been a shootout between the two security guards, as both were found bloodied.

One guard was identified as belonging to Detectnet Security Agency, while the other was identified to be from the Onerca Security Agency.

No suspect or motive has been established, the police said, but they are looking into the possibility that the shootout is linked with an ongoing dispute among residents of the building.

Rappler spoke to Leighton Siazon, lawyer for one of the groups, to trace the beginnings of the dispute. As of posting, we are still contacting the law firm that represents the other group. 

Burgundy Plaza is home mostly to students of nearby schools: Ateneo de Manila University, Miriam College, and the University of the Philippines.

What the fight is about: Burgundy Plaza had an old board, which had been backed by the company that built the building, Burgundy Realty Corporation.

The old board handled Burgundy Plaza until they were called out by the Quezon City government in 2006 for allegedly not remitting real estate taxes they collected from residents.

The local government eventually levied the building and later put it up for auction. 

This made unit owners worry, so they organized themselves into a separate board to manage and maintain the property. They are the ones represented by Siazon.

The new board was elected in April 2017 and was recognized by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 93.

The old board, however, has stayed put and continued to send out advisories to unit owners, insisting they were the official board. 

They filed an appeal before RTC Branch 93 to continue managing the building, but their petition was junked.

Two security agencies: As with all residential buildings, Burgundy Plaza employs security guards. The board is in charge of this.

The old board employed Onerca, while the new board hired Detectnet. 

Siazon claimed that the Philippine National Police Supervisory Office on Security and Investigation Agencies, the PNP office which accredits and regulates security agencies, had already ordered that Detectnet be the only security group for Burgundy Plaza.

The old board again allegedly refused to follow the order. 

Siazon recounted, based on testimonies of witnesses he talked to, that on Friday, 5 unidentified armed men stormed the building’s Upper Ground Level 3, which houses the administration’s room, and sprayed bullets at the Detectnet guards that looked after the room.

The Detectnet guards seemed to have put up a fight.

It is unclear whether the killed person identified as an Onerca guard was part of the 5, or he was among the patrolling guards hired by the old board. – Rappler.com