Activists plead guilty, fined for disrupting House session

A Quezon City court has slapped a fine of P200 each on eight youth leaders charged with disturbing proceedings during a plenary hall session at the House of Representatives in July.

Judge Don Ace Mariano Alagar of the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 43 handed down the sentence on Monday, after the youth activists pleaded guilty to the charge filed by the police.

The eight respondents, namely Chad Booc, Kenneth Cadiang, Yasser Gutierrez, Almira Abril, Renz Pasigpasigan, JR Roses, Vince Simon and Michael Villanueva, were found in violation of Article 144 of the Revised Penal Code for staging a lighting protest during a bicameral session that tackled the extension of martial law in Mindanao in view of the Marawi City siege.

Booc, Cadiang and Gutierrez are volunteer teachers at the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (Alcadev), an alternative learning school in Caraga region in Mindanao.

After three days of detention at the Quezon City Police District headquarters in Camp Karingal, the eight posted bail amounting to P2,000 each.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers and Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center, which represented the activists, told the Inquirer that it was considering applying for probation to have the youth leaders’ criminal records erased. —Jhesset O. Enano