By ABBY BILAN
Bulatlat.com
NAGA CITY – “It was indeed a People Power, not the Police Power during #EDSA38!”
This was how Nelsy Rodriguez of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Camarines Sur described the first people power uprising that the country commemorated last week.
Today, however, Bicol-based activists said that the spirit of people power remains in the face of intensifying attacks against their ranks, not to mention the attempts to amend the Philippine Constitution.
Last week, during the People Power commemoration, the Philippine National Police (PNP) occupied all parks in Camarines Sur for their supposed “outreach” program. Still, it did not stop more than 300 activists here to stage a protest action in the afternoon of Feb. 25.
The apparent moves of the police to occupy the parks in time of their protest is a violation of their right to peaceably assemble. It also goes against the intent of a local ordinance that established freedom parks.
“If the PNP would at least do an outreach program, they should go to the poor barangays since they have barangay halls,” Rodriguez said.
During the protest action, Jen Nagrampa of Bayan-Bicol assailed the increasing attacks against human rights defenders as the government implements the anti-terror law in the region.
“We are not afraid to reveal the truth because we are fighting for not just ourselves, not just our families, but the interest of the Filipino people,” Nagrampa said.
Nagrampa was recently subjected to red-tagging after she exposed the fake rebel returnees in the Bicol region in a special report published by Bulatlat.
Read: Revealing the lies behind fake surrenders in Bicol
Instead of targeting human rights defenders and in amending the Philippine Constitution, Nagrampa said that the country’s economic crisis should be addressed first.
“The people should be allowed to express, not to be silenced by oppression,” Rodriguez stressed. “The local government must serve its constituents.” (JJE, DAA) 
