Mayor, police get prison terms for violent dispersal of rally

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has sentenced an Agusan del Norte mayor and his police chief to several prison terms for their involvement in the violent dispersal of a 2006 antimining rally that led to serious injuries among those present.

The antigraft court’s Seventh Division found Tubay, Agusan del Norte, Mayor Fidel Garcia and police chief Benny Esparagoza guilty of three counts of slight physical injuries and of violating the Public Assembly Act and provisions of the law on peaceful meetings.

The court’s 84-page decision said Garcia and Esparagoza were also guilty of grave coercion, which carries a prison term of two years, four months and one day, and an individual fine of P6,000.

The court established that Garcia and Esparagoza were involved in the dispersal of a public assembly held in Barangay La Fraternidad, Tubay, Agusan del Norte, in 2006.

The rally attended by about 50 was organized by antimining advocates who were calling attention to the waste generated by a local mining company.  Police used a water cannon mounted on a fire truck to disperse ralliers, causing injuries to eight of them.

The antigraft court said that while the ralliers had no permit from the Office of the Mayor, there was actually no need for one since the rally was held on private property.

“All that was necessary for the rally to be lawfully held on the land of Maximo Page was the consent of his lawful heirs entitled to its possession,” the ruling said.

Aliore Page, the landowner’s heir and one of the protesters, told the court she had consented to the rally.

The court also noted that since the rally was not characterized by “violence or acts of destruction,” there was no need for the authorities to use a water cannon to disperse it.