POLICE thwarted the efforts of two groups, including one composed of concerned residents, to hold separate activities in Barangay Tina-an, City of Naga to end quarrying operations and give justice to landslide victims.
The concerned citizens gathered at the entrance of Barangay Tina-an at 7 a.m. to hold a mass.
Meanwhile, a cause-oriented group were about to stage a rally at the landslide-affected site about the same time.
However, the two groups were stopped by police officers from entering Ground Zero.
Tensions almost flared in the area between police officers and the concerned groups but it eventually died down.
The two groups decided to hold mass outside the City Abattoir in Barangay Tina-an.
In a separate interview, Chief Inspector Roderick Gonzales said he deployed police officers to prevent the two groups from entering Ground Zero as they received reports that leftist groups are using the opportunity to make a statement.
"We don't want these people to use the survivors of the landslide to fuel their interest," Gonzales said.
In his homily, Fr. Renel Cabag of the Order of Augustinian Discalced (OAD) urged the communities in the City of Naga to move as one in seeking justice for those who died in the landslide in Sitios Tagaytay and Sindulan.
"As a community, we should be one. There will be no peace, if there is no justice," Cabag said. (JKV)