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Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Police who ordered rally dispersal may face raps
By Jonathan F. Fernandez and Marie S. Neri
MANILA -- Police will file charges against an officer who has taken responsibility for the dispersal of last Friday's prayer rally at the Chino Roces (formerly Mendiola) Bridge in Manila.
This is if he is found to have erred when he ordered the use of a water cannon to break up a group of protestors that included former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr., said Superintendent Arturo Paglinawan.
Paglinawan, chief of the Western Police District-General Assignment Section (WPD-GAS), said Monday that Superintendent Florencio Ortilla, the deputy ground commander in-charge of maintaining peace and order in the street protest last Friday, will be charged criminally and administratively if found that he abused his duty in dealing with participants to the October 14 prayer assembly by ordering a dispersal of the march.
Paglinawan said he would finish his investigation Tuesday and that the police were open to any independent investigation on the incident.
Upon the order of Ortilla, the firemen hosed down the rallyists that included Guingona, Senator Ma. Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal, former executive secretary Oscar Orbos, party-list group congressmen and congresswomen, some leaders of the Catholic Church and other prominent personalities after they attempted to go to Chino Roces Bridge from C.M. Recto Avenue.
Guingona said despite the incident, they will continue to pursue the holding of more protests and indignation rallies against the "suppressive" policies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
He said no amount of physical violence would stop them from staging mass actions because the 1987 Constitution does not prohibit the people from exercising their freedom to expression and to peaceably assemble.
He said they will challenge the calibrated preemptive response (CPR) being imposed against protestors during rallies before the UN Commission on Human Rights. He said the CPR and the controversial Executive Order (EO) 464 are policies being implemented by a "dictatorial regime".
The executive order bars government, police and military officials from attending congressional inquiries without the permission of the President.
The lawyers' group Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (Codal) said the dispersal last Friday of a peaceful procession led by Guingona and bishops did not only violate the participants' constitutional rights but also makes the police officers criminally liable under the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
Codal spokesman Neri Colmenares said the rally had a permit and was peaceful until the police blocked the march and later trained a water cannon at the participants. He said the peaceful procession did not threaten the right of others to life, liberty and equal protection and the dispersal was therefore without legal basis.
He said the police in last Friday's dispersal of the prayer rally "committed criminal acts...when they obstructed the procession several times on its way to San Beda Church."
He said further that the failure of the organizers of an assembly to present a permit does not give the police reason to commit an act of violence against the protestors because under the law, the participants were not criminally liable for participating in a peaceful rally even if it does not have a permit.
Under Section 12 of the Code, Colmenares said when a public assembly is held without a permit where a permit is required, such a rally may be peacefully dispersed by the police.
Western Police District Chief Pedro Bulaong said they will take video footages of every rally to be held in Manila to determine who between the policemen and protestors are violating the law.
Chief Superintendent Bulaong said they will assign their own cameramen to demonstrations to protect policemen against lawsuits before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). He said they will continue to implement the no permit, no rally and CPR policies when militants and members of the religious sector hold another prayer rally and march towards San Beda College on October 20.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said they welcome a plan of organizers of last Friday's rally to lodge a complaint with the courts, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), and the UN Commission on Humans Rights (UNCHR) over the dispersal.
Bunye said "nobody can stop them (rally leaders) from filing a complaint but at the same time it must be understood that the government is here to protect the interest and welfare of majority of the people."
He said the rally staged by the group of Guingona was not covered by a permit and any untoward incident in the Mendiola university belt would have caused a lot of inconvenience to thousands of students in the area.
He also brushed off speculations of a looming fight between Malacañang and the Catholic Church in the wake of the dispersal of the prayer-march. He said Malacañang abides by the pastoral statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) "to respect and uphold the rule of law as well as the apolitical stand of the Catholic Church."
The President's spokesman urged the people not to join rallies "disguised as religious processions and instigated for political ends by those thirsting for earthly powers." He added that the people should not allow themselves to be used as tools by "pretenders and hypocrites" out to advance their political agenda.
Evangelist and charismatic group El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde, a known supporter of President Arroyo, said the dispersal of prayer rally led by bishops is a sign of "disrespect" to religion and beliefs.
"The suppression of prayer rallies led by responsible religious leaders is a clear sign of disrespect to faith and beliefs which must not be tolerated by the faithful and the people regardless of religious affiliation," he said.
Velarde said the CPR being imposed on protestors to quell the growing political dissent "is not the solution to arrest the country's political instability because it in fact creates more problem."
He advised the government and the opposition to set aside their own interests and work for the betterment of the Filipino people. "I am encouraging all concerned leaders on both sides to come to the conference table to fashion a principled cooperation for the sake of our suffering people and for the survival of our democratic institution," he said.
Velarded added: "I believe that by setting aside personal interests and partisan consideration, they can use their influence to bring sanity to our troubled political conditions."
Another religious group, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), criticized the water dispersal of the October 14 prayer rally.
Antonio Ventosa, chairman of PPCRV, said the ruthless act committed by the policemen against the Catholic Church leaders "is a clear display of what the government could do to remain in power."
He said that if the police did the violent dispersal to leaders of the Catholic Church and prominent personalities "what more would prevent them from doing it to the ordinary citizens."
"We therefore call upon other members of the Catholic Church hierarchy, together with all other mandated church organizations and transparochial communities, to publicly denounce last Friday's dispersal," said Ventosa. (Sunnex)
(October 18, 2005 issue)
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