Mindanao-based tillers sue cops over ‘violent dispersal’

Activists who protested outside President Aquino’s house last month have asked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate some Quezon City policemen for allegedly using excessive force to disperse their ranks.

On Friday, 13 members of the Manilakbayan ng Mindanao protesters filed a complaint with the CHR against Masambong police station commander Supt. Pedro Sanchez and 16 of his men.

The filing of the complaint was confirmed by human rights group Karapatan on Tuesday in a statement. According to its secretary general Cristina Palabay, “the violent dispersal of Manilakbayan reflects the disregard of human rights under the Aquino administration. The Philippine National Police should be made accountable for this.”

The Manilakbayan, a caravan of Mindanao-based farmers and indigenous peoples decrying human rights violations and land-grabbing in the southern Philippines, held a rally on Nov. 29 in front of the President’s house on Times Street, Barangay West Triangle, Quezon City, to demand his ouster for his perceived “inaction” on their concerns.

According to the protesters’ complaint in the CHR, some policemen suddenly started hitting them just as they were about to leave after a two-hour program.

The police, however, said that they accosted the ralliers only after the latter started writing slogans on the gates of several houses on the street.

In the scuffle that broke out, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas secretary general Antonio Flores was arrested. He was charged with direct assault, serious physical injuries and illegal assembly.

According to Karapatan, Flores was illegally held for four days by the police on trumped-up charges.

The other complainants who said that they suffered injuries during the dispersal were Karapatan-North Cotabato coordinator Jayvee Apiag; Kilab multimedia photojournalist Freddie del Rosario; Mindanaoans Harold Gerozaga, Jimson Bazar, Jade Azucena, Sanny Boy Gonzales and Nelson Binongkasan; Bayan Muna members Joven Almazan, Jun Cristobal and Marvin Perez; Gabriela women’s party-list member Jocelyn Dealagdon, and Aaron Moises Bonette Pinon, leader of a group of gays, lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals based in Quezon province.

The complainants accused Sanchez and the other policemen of violating their constitutional rights, human rights and the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“The right to peaceably assemble and to express a legitimate call for [Aquino] to pull out the military troops in communities in Mindanao was met again with violence. Malacanang was quick to brand the legitimate protest action as ‘vandalism’ but it has not addressed the urgent issues of peasants and indigenous peoples in Mindanao squarely,” Palabay said.

When informed of the complaint, Sanchez shrugged it off as “normal” and “within the [protesters’] rights.”

He denied the allegation, however, that he and his men used excessive force against the ralliers. “We didn’t even disperse them. We allowed them to hold their program. We only moved forward to stop them when they started painting messages on the houses,” Sanchez said.

He added that the ralliers threw paint and other projectiles at them, resulting in 12 of his men getting hurt.