Cops Stop Lawyers' Motorcade
Proof that democracy
is dead in this country, some 100 police officers barred lawyers from
going ahead with their motorcade in Manila. The Counsels for the Defense
of Liberties (CODAL) was supposed to serve an eviction notice to President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang Palace.
BY DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat
|
The dictionary
defines motorcade as a “procession or parade of motor vehicles.” However,
lawyers, paralegals and law students belonging to the Counsels for the
Defense of Liberties (CODAL) recently found that members of the Western
Police District (WPD) have their own definition of the word. For the
police, a motorcade should have waving artists and beauty queens.
WITHIN LEGAL BOUNDS: CODAL lawyers stage moving picket in Quezon City,
July 22
Photo by Dabet Castañeda
|
The
motorcade
In the morning
of July 22, CODAL held a 10-vehicle motorcade starting from the Quezon
City Memorial Circle (QCMC). The group was joined by former National Labor
Relations Commission (NLRC) chief Roy Señeres, former Commission on Human
Rights (CHR) Commissioner Nasser Marohomsalic and former National Amnesty
Commission (NAC) head Fatima Remedios Balbin, all of whom are lawyers by
profession. Señeres was one of the first government officials to call for
the president’s resignation
With their
vehicles bedecked with blue and white buntings and placards that bore
calls for the president’s resignation, the lawyers planned to proceed to
the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Intramuros, Manila to
issue a symbolic warrant of arrest to former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio
Garcillano.
Garcillano has
repeatedly denied that his was the voice in the allegedly wiretapped
conversation with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which is now publicly
known as the “Hello, Garci” tapes. The conversation contained discussions
about rigging the outcome of the May 2004 elections in favor of the
President.
Aside from the
Comelec office, the motorcade was to go to the Bureau of Immigration and
Deportation (BID) to issue a symbolic hold departure order to Macapagal-Arroyo
and Garcillano. The activity would have ended at the gates of Malacañang
where CODAL was supposed to issue a symbolic notice of eviction to the
President.
But these did
not happen. About 100 police officers from the WPD and the Regional
Special Action Force (RSAF) stopped the motorcade in front of the Welcome
Rotonda, the boundary between Quezon City and Manila.
Where’s the
beauty queen?
Both clad in
white barong (a native suit), lawyers Edre Olalia and Noel Neri
asked why they were being blocked. Police Supt. Arturo Paglinawan of the
WPD replied, “Pinatutupad lang namin ang no-permit, no-rally policy”
(We are just implementing the no-permit, no-rally policy).
“This is not a
rally, this is a motorcade,” the lawyers argued. At this point, Paglinawan
quipped, “Mayroon ba kayong beauty queen o artista? Hindi ba yung
motorcade karaniwan yung may kumakaway? (Do you have a beauty queen or
an actor? Isn’t it that a motorcade usually has people waving to the
crowd?)”
Paglinawan
insisted that since the group had a political purpose, it was definitely
“not a motorcade but a rally.” After about 30 minutes of negotiation, he
still insisted that the WPD will not allow the group to proceed with their
activity. Consequently, CODAL decided to turn the motorcade into what the
WPD classified it to be - a rally.
The rally
Dressed in
power suits, the lawyers started a moving picket. Lady lawyers including
Nenita Mahinay, legal counsel of the striking workers of Hacienda Luisita,
who were wearing high heels stepped out of the vehicles to join the rally.
In his speech,
human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares denounced the police for blocking the
motorcade. “This is a sad day in the history of our country. Lawyers are
the defenders of human rights, the defenders of the poor. But this
time we are not allowed by this government to express our grievances,” he
said.
Lawyers
nationwide have been under attack recently. CODAL has
documented at least four lawyers and two judges killed from 2004 to early
2005. Among those murdered was Fedelito Dacut, a former CHR Commissioner.
“What
this administration has done to us is clear proof that democracy is dead
in this country,” Colmenares added. The rally ended after about 45
minutes, but the lawyers vowed never to rest their case until the current
political crisis reaches a favorable solution.
Bulatlat
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