Police block indigenous protesters from SC Baguio grounds

Cordillera elders performed a prayer ritual in front police barring them from holding picket in front SC summer courthouse. Kimberlie Quitasol / INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

BAGUIO CITY — As many as 300 indigenous Filipinos were blocked by 40 policemen from marching towards the gates of the summer courthouse of the Supreme Court on Monday morning (April 24).

The group participated in this year’s Cordillera Day activities, and assembled to join calls for the Court to dismiss a quo warranto petition filed to oust Chief Justice-on-leave Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate and former Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casino took part in the rally.

The group performed a prayer ritual in front of the barricade.

Windel Bolinget, chair of the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA), said the elders prayed for a successful protest and the junking of the quo warranto plea and cursed all the forces obstructing justice.

This was the fourth rally staged at the SC Baguio compound since the High Court held this year’s summer sessions here.

The indigenous people (IP) came from various provinces in the Cordillera, central Luzon, southern Luzon and Mindanao to participate in the Cordillera Day program.

Cordillera Day commemorates the April 24 murder of Macliing Dulag, a Kalinga village leader who led the opposition against a hydroelectric dam project for Chico River during Martial Law. He became a symbol for the fight to assert Cordillera rights.