Group files rights violation case vs QC cops over melee outside Aquino home

MANILA, Philippines – Activists who protested outside President Aquino’s home late last month filed a complaint against the Quezon City police personnel who allegedly used excessive violence to disperse them.

Thirteen of the “Manilakbayan ng Mindanao” protesters went to the Commission of Human Rights (CHR) on Friday to file a complaint against the Masambong police station commander, Supt. Pedro Sanchez and some 16 fellow Quezon City policemen.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the human rights group Karapatan said the complaint asked the CHR to investigate the clash between the protesters and the police outside the President’s home on Times St., Barangay West Triangle, Quezon City, last Nov. 29.

“The violent dispersal of Manilakbayan reflects the disregard of human rights under the Aquino administration. The Philippine National Police should be made accountable for this,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

The Manilakbayan, a caravan of Mindanao-based farmers and indigenous peoples decrying human rights violations and land-grabbing in southern Philippines, staged the protest calling for President Aquino’s ouster for his perceived “inaction” on their concerns.

The complainants alleged that police suddenly descended upon their ranks and started hitting them after they already concluded their two-hour program in front of Aquino’s home and were about to leave.

The police earlier claimed they only moved on the protesters when they started painting messages on the homes’ gates and the street.

The police also arrested Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) secretary general Antonio Flores, 65, and filed complaints of direct assault, serious physical injuries and illegal assembly against him as one of the leaders of the protesters.

Karapatan alleged Flores was illegally detained by the police for four days on trumped-up charges.

The other complainants who suffered injuries in the dispersal were Karapatan-North Cotabato coordinator Jayvee Apiag, Kilab Multimedia photojournalist Freddie del Rosario, Mindanaoans Harold Gerozaga, Jimson Bazar, Jade Azucena, Sanny Boy Gonzales, and Nelson Binongkasan; Bayan Muna members Joven Almazan, Jun Cristobal and Marvin Perez; Gabriela Women’s Partylist member Jocelyn Dealagdon; and Aaron Moises Bonette Piñon, leader of a group of gays, lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals based in Quezon Province.

The complainants accused Sanchez and the other policemen of violating their constitutional rights, human rights, and the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“The right to peaceably assemble and to express a legitimate call for [Aquino] to pull out the military troops in communities in Mindanao was met again with violence. Malacañang was quick to brand the legitimate protest action as ‘vandalism,’ but it has not addressed the urgent issues of peasants and indigenous peoples in Mindanao squarely,” Palabay said.

When informed of the complaint, Sanchez shrugged it off as “normal” and “within rights” of the protesters.

But the police commander denied using excessive force on the protesters. “We didn’t even disperse them. We allowed them to hold their program. We only moved forward to stop them when they started painting messages on the houses,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the protesters also started throwing paint and other projectiles at them. Earlier, the Quezon City police reported that 12 of their personnel were hurt in the clash.