Roxas to INC members: Exercise your rights without causing inconvenience

Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said on Friday that while all citizens, including the Iglesia Ni Cristo members, have the right to be heard, exercising their rights should not “cause inconvenience to anyone.”

Reacting to the ongoing protest action staged by INC followers on Epifanio delos Santos Avenue, Roxas urged the public to “remember that ours is a Rule of Law and not of men.”

“As in all protest actions, preserving peace and order with maximum tolerance will be practiced by all responding policemen. While all citizens have the right to be heard and to peaceful assembly, the exercise of these rights cannot impinge on the rights of others or cause inconvenience to anyone,” he said.

“Lalo na yung mga kababayan nating pauwi sa kanilang mga tahanan para magpahinga at makasama ang kanilang mga pamilya.”

(Especially those who are going home to rest and be with their family.)

READ: 2nd day of Iglesia Ni Cristo protest causes heavy traffic on Edsa

Roxas assured that policemen deployed at the INC protest will exercise maximum tolerance in dealing with INC members.

“The Philippine National Police is duty-bound to ensure that the safety and general welfare of the public is maintained, both those protesting and those uninvolved,” he said.

The outgoing Department of Interior and Local Government secretary said among the duties of the PNP is to ensure that “opportunists” will not use the situation for their “personal ends.”

“This includes making sure opportunists do not try to take advantage of the situation for personal ends,” he added. TVJ

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