This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 14, May 15-21, 2005
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Denial of Permit to Rally Unlawful –
Constitutionalist
A constitutional law professor
says that even with the no-permit-no-rally policy, applications for permits to
rally cannot be denied. In another interview, an activist leader said that the
policy – a Marcos edict - reflects the “extreme paranoia” of a government
increasingly isolated from the public. BY
ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Taking issues to the
streets is a legal form of protest. But instead of respecting this right,
government has resorted to ways both cruel and unusual as cause-oriented groups
and individuals try to send their message across to motorists and passers-by. For instance, the Alliance
of Health Workers (AHW) and the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) were
supposed to observe Health Workers’ Day last May 6 with a rally at the foot of
the Chino Roces Bridge in Manila, near the presidential palace. However, they
were stopped by the anti-riot police before they could even leave the Philippine
General Hospital (PGH), the country’s main state hospital, where they had
assembled. They were then forced to hold a program within the PGH compound. The police claimed that the
demonstrators’ application for a permit to rally remained unapproved by the
Manila City Hall until the day of the rally itself. BP 880 The no-permit-no-rally
policy is based on Batas Pambansa (BP) 880 or the Public Assembly Act of 1985.
Sec. 6, paragraph (a) of BP 880 – enacted during martial law - provides that an
application for a permit to rally should be acted upon within two working days
by the mayor of the city or municipality where a rally is to be held, after
which the permit is deemed granted. In Manila, the recent cases
of violent dispersal were the April 7, 2005 rally led by Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan (Bayan, or New Patriotic Alliance) in Malate and the July 13, 2004
prayer rally at the Plaza Miranda in Quiapo. Both rallies protested against the
U.S.-led wars of aggression. Amie Dural,
secretary-general of the Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR) whose
members were among those hurt in the April 7 dispersal, recalled in an interview
with Bulatlat that Bayan applied for a permit to rally in front of the
Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) where a summit of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was being held that same day. The permit was
denied, she said. In the case of the July 13,
2004 rally, it was held in a venue declared a freedom park during the presidency
of Corazon Aquino. Reyes v.
Bagatsing Lawyer Marvic Leonen, who
teaches Constitutional Law at the University of the Philippines (UP), said in a
separate interview with Bulatlat that even with BP 880, the government
cannot deny applications for permits to rally. Leonen, who is also UP’s
legal counsel, cited the case of Reyes v. Bagatsing, in which the Supreme
Court (SC) said that freedom of speech cannot be suppressed, but if ever the
streets are to be used for the exercise of this right, the State can only
regulate as to time and place. “In other words, there is supposed to be a
balance between the rights of those who traverse the streets and the rights of
the ralliers,” Leonen said. “The application for a
permit to rally should not be denied, but there should only be regulation on
time and place,” he added.
Regarding rallies held without permit, Leonen said that police should not
automatically use force to disperse ralliers. “There should be negotiations
first,” he explained. “But if all attempts at negotiation have failed and the
situation turns violent, the police could use force to disperse the rally, but
the force should be calibrated – not excessive.”
Dural recalled that the April 7 rally was dispersed without negotiation. Scores
of protesters were reported hurt in the dispersal, including PCPR chairman Fr.
Allan Jose Arcebuche, who sustained head and body injuries. Also injured were a
few journalists who covered the event, including Bulatlat’s Ronald
Escanlar, who held his press ID card when police truncheoned him and tried to
drag him away.
In
rallies held at freedom parks, Leonen said that they should not be dispersed
even when the rallyers have no permit. Manila police cited the absence of a
permit to rally in explaining why the July 13, 2004 rally at Plaza Miranda was
dispersed with force. Several protesters were hurt during the dispersal,
including Bayan chairperson Dr. Carol Araullo, who sustained a head wound that
needed seven stitches.
“Extreme paranoia”
Dural said that the emphasis presently being placed on the no-permit-no-rally
policy reflects the “extreme paranoia” of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration on
demonstrations.
She
also observed that in previous administrations, there were several rallies
without permit that were met with tolerance from the authorities, unlike today.
“This is because there are so many reasons for the people to protest these
days,” she said.
A
survey by the socio-economic think tank IBON Foundation revealed that 58 percent
of the respondents wanted a change in the national leadership.
Last
January, the Social Weather Station (SWS) released the results of its survey for
last year’s fourth quarter, revealing the prevalence of pessimism among
Filipinos. This situation previously occurred only in 1984 (a year after the
assassination of former Sen. Benigno Aquino, Jr.), in September-October 2000
(the Juetenggate expose against then President Joseph Estrada), and in March
2003 (the outbreak of the U.S.-led war on Iraq, which the Macapagal-Arroyo
administration supported). Ferdinand Marcos, who was president in 1984, was
deposed through a popular uprising two years later; Estrada suffered the same
fate in 2001.
“We
are no longer surprised that the government would do everything to suppress the
people’s rights these days,” Dural said. Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
Bulatlat
Dispersal without
negotiation