Thousands arrive for Iglesia rally in Davao City as Duterte sympathizes with De Lima

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. KIMBERLY DE LA CRUZ/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Mayor Rodrigo Duterte expressed sympathy for Justice Secretary Leila de Lima but said he could not prevent Iglesia ni Cristo members from exercising their constitutional right to peaceful assembly.

Duterte issued the statement as thousands of INC members from all over Mindanao started arriving here for a series of protest against the Department of Justice’s investigation of the alleged illegal detention of some ministers.

“Of course, I sympathize with her…although in the past we had exchange of words. Those days, work ’yon (That’s work). She has a duty, I have mine,” he said Sunday night.

Duterte and De Lima had bitter exchanges over the issue of summary killings targeting suspected criminals here. Duterte has consistently denied ordering the execution of any criminal, saying he feared karma.

He said the problem between De Lima and the INC started when the DOJ gave “priority attention” to the charges of illegal detention and harassment against the leaders of the sect.

Duterte said the case should have been handled by fiscals and not by the DOJ itself.

He said a murder case, for example, should be referred to fiscals and not the DOJ.

“If you give it too much importance, it would appear that you want attention. I am not saying that De Lima is asking for one,” Duterte said.

“You give it to the fiscal, after all, the fiscal has the original jurisdiction over the issue,” he said of the allegations hounding the INC.

Duterte said things would get complicated if such cases were directly filed at the DOJ in Manila instead of the prosecutor’s office.

As to the constitutional guarantee on peaceful assembly, Duterte said he could not do anything about it. He could not even regulate the number of participants at the protest.

“The INC (members are) just exercising their rights and the Constitution says you can peaceably assemble and air grievance but there is no provision that says you are only limited to 100, 1,000 or one million. The Constitution does not limit (the number of participants,” Duterte said.

“The Constitution guarantees every Filipino citizen’s right to peaceably assemble to air their grievance as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights,” he added.

Duterte, however, said the right of non-protesters to use any public property should also be respected.

“The only way is to have a happy compromise,” he said when asked what should be done to ensure peaceful protest.

Duterte said the Task Force Davao and the city police would help maintain order on Monday and make sure that the protest here would not cause traffic jams and that everyone would have access to the Hall of Justice and the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal.

The DCOTT serves as the city’s gateway to various areas of Mindanao. Passengers, however, have to walk to the bus terminal as vehicles are not allowed to enter the street near the Hall of Justice.

While he vowed to maintain law and order, Duterte said no anti-riot police would be deployed during the protest.

He said soldiers under the TF Davao and policemen would also keep their distance from the ralliers.

Duterte said the protesters could stay for as long as they wanted to, provided they maintain peaceful assembly. Allan Nawal from Inquirer Mindanao

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