LEADERS and members of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, led by Rep. Carlos Zarate (in blue), hold a mock vin d’ honneur (top photo) on the streets of Iloilo City while President Aquino offers a toast to dignitaries and other guests at the official vin d’ honneur at the old provincial capitol of Iloilo province a few hundred meters away. Contributed Photo
ILOILO CITY—Holding protest rallies are apparently not allowed under the administration of President Aquino whose parents are considered icons of democracy.
Eighteen members of militant groups were arrested in Iloilo and Cavite on Independence Day for staging rallies which police claimed didn’t have permits.
Five of them were among the more than 1,000 protesters led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) who clashed with policemen during Independence Day rites on Friday morning in the city.
The 13 others were Bayan members who were arrested for allegedly disrupting the program for the 117th Independence Day commemoration in Kawit, Cavite.
Senior Supt. Kashmir Disomangcop, Iloilo City police director, said the five militants were arrested after protesters allegedly forced their way into a police blockade near Plaza Libertad.
The plaza is about 1.6 kilometers from the old Iloilo provincial capitol where President Aquino and members of the diplomatic corps were attending the traditional Independence Day vin d’honneur.
Police injuries
Disomangcop said the protesters were allowed to hold their rally at the plaza as part of security measures.
An undetermined number of policemen were also injured while police shields were cracked, according to the police official.
But Hope Hervilla, chair of the Panay chapter of Bayan, said the group was just asking for permission to go near the Freedom Grandstand, about 200 meters from the plaza.
“We were unarmed and beating us with truncheons is uncalled for,” she said.
The five were charged with disobedience to lawful order, direct assault with physical injuries, malicious mischief and resisting arrest.
They were identified Reylan Vergara, secretary general of the human rights group Panay Alliance—Karapatan; Ana Marie Primalion, staff member of Bayan; farmers Alfonso Tamoy and Ceasar Lope; and Marlon de la Cruz, a member of the urban poor group Kaisog.
P40,000 in bail
They were released 1 a.m. on Saturday after posting bail which reached a total of P40,000.
Hervilla said they planned to file counter charges because 10 protesters, including two of those arrested, were injured after they were hit by truncheons.
In Cavite, the 13 arrested Bayan members faced charges for illegal assembly, said Chief Insp. Mark Laygo, Kawit town police chief.
Three of them were students of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).
They were David Pilapil, Emarlyn Olar, Marvin Almasan, Jerry Caristia, Maricris Rosit, Manuelito Manto, Jay-Ar Pizano, Jay-Ar Orandoy, Josh Castillo and Estrella Gordo, and UPLB students Romina Mercaida, Carlo Alberto and Charissa Caneso.
Laygo claimed that the group tried to disrupt the program for the 117th Independence Day commemoration at the Aguinaldo Shrine by chanting and holding out placards.
MALACAÑANG PHOTO
Disruption
The rally, he said, started as the event’s guest of honor, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, was delivering her speech before a crowd of about a hundred people.
Police quickly whisked away the activists, allowing the program to continue toward the end.
Nestor Villanueva, Bayan-Southern Tagalog leader, in a phone interview, said they were protesting the Aquino administration’s foreign policy which allowed the United States and China to violate Philippine sovereignty.
Laygo, as of Friday, said he was still waiting for orders from the Cavite police’s legal department over whether or not to release the arrested activists. Maricar Cinco, Mar Arguelles, Michael Jaucian and Ma. April Mier Inquirer Southern Luzon and Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas