LEADERS. In this file photo, Piya Macliing Malayao convener of Sandugo alliance talks at a protest rally in front of the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Rafael T. Crame days after the violent US Embassy dispersal. Behind her is Jerome Aba, spokesperson Suara Bangsamoro and also convener of Sandugo alliance. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Activists who led a protest rally at the US Embassy on Oct. 19 decried Wednesday the charges filed against them by the Philippine National Police, saying it was meant to sway public opinion from the real issue.
Jerome Succor Aba of Moro group Suara Bangsamoro, Piya Macliing Malayao, Renato Reyes, Nathaniel Santiago, and Roberto de Castro were charged of illegal assembly, direct assault, physical injuries, and malicious mischief.
Aba, along with other conveners of the indigenous people alliance “Sandugo,” questioned the impartiality of the PNP probe as it tagged the report as a “machinery of impunity.”
“We, in Sandugo condemn the results of the PNP special investigation team which charged the leaders of the mass action at the US Embassy on Oct. 19. Just like in the Kidapawan Massacre, they are charging the victims, not the perpetrators,” Aba told DavaoToday in a text message.
Based on the PNP report, it claimed that “evidence revealed that the protesters started the violence and the action of the police was a reactionary measure but some have gone out of control.”
A special investigation team formed by the PNP recommended the filing of two counts of grave misconduct administrative charges to Senior Supt. Marcelino Pedroso Jr. and Supt. Albert Barot for “lapses or violations” of the PNP operational procedures and neglect of duty.
The report also recommended administratively filing two charges of physical injuries against PO3 Franklin Kho who drove the police vehicle that ran over protesters.
“His assertions that his acts were caused by his personal impulse to overcome an imminent threat to life, in revving-up the engine and recklessly accelerating and ramming the vehicle into the crowd of protesters which resulted to the injury of several persons, is not a valid excuse,” the report said.
The PNP, however, pinned the bulk of the blame to the protesters for failing to police their own ranks and control their “unruly” members. The report also said that the actions of the police were prompted only by the protesters’ acts of “aggression.”
For her part, Malayao said the charges against her and the other leaders were “tactics” of the PNP against dissenters.
“This only serves to distract us from the major issues that were the reason why the people are protesting,” Malayao said.
On Oct. 19, some 3,000 Moro and indigenous people led by Sandugo protested in front of the US Embassy in Manila to call for “an end to all forms of US interventionism” in the country.
Organizers of the protest claim that the program was about to end when Pedroso ordered the dispersal. (davaotoday.com)
