Bayan to hold rally vs Aquino SONA even without permit

The National Union of People’s Lawyers, counsel of the militant umbrella organization Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, scored the Quezon City government’s inaction on the group’s request to be allowed to hold a rally along Commonwealth Avenue, near the Batasan Pambansa, where President Aquinog has been scheduled to deliver his final State-of-the-Nation Address on Monday, July 27.

In a statement, NUPL secretary-general Edre Olalia accused the government of committing a “contempt of the people’s basic right to peaceful assembly” by failing to act on the rally permit application and the security measures set up by the police against demonstrations.

The Quezon City police earlier said it would impose a “no-rally, no-permit” on Monday. Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. said the city hall has not acted on the permit application, as of Sunday.

“The QC government should at least present us a written denial along with evidence that the rally is a threat (to public safety) as well as hold a formal hearing with which we can defend our activity. The QC government has never done that, even in past rallies,” Reyes said in a text message.

Olalia said the planned rallies should continue, adding, “[T]people will defy repression. Not even an elaborate blockade and threats of brute police force will stop them from demanding justice and accountability from the government. The people will and should march on.”

The lawyer said the Bayan’s application for a permit to rally was deemed “granted by operation of law days after the local government routinely but deliberately failed to take action thereon.”

“The law is crystal clear. Despite its loopholes, the better part of its letter and spirit are being undermined even further. To coop the people to an arbitrary space to express their grievances is therefore unlawful,” he said.

Olalia also criticized “the fortress of steel and concrete barriers, concertina wire and container vans” along the road to Batasan, saying these were an “eloquent proof whose side is this government on.”

“By these paranoid measures, the Aquino government’s fear of confronting the people’s just demands shows through. It knows why it should be running scared, now that the end of the regime draws near.”

“Through its servile and robotic police , it is without a shadow of doubt that it is the government that actually poses a clear and present danger to the public order, public safety and public convenience,” he added.