Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts

Vol. V,    No. 9      April 10 - 16, 2005      Quezon City, Philippines

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Protest vs State Terror Violently Dispersed

The police dispersed last April 7 some 6,000 demonstrators in Manila who were protesting against state terrorism. The dispersal certainly drove home the rallyists’ point. Among the 10 persons injured were two priests and three members of media, including this reporter.

BY RONALD ESCANLAR
Bulatlat

Truncheoned and bloodied, Bro. Benedicto Zaragosa of the Order of Camelites struggles to free himself from the police who dragged him to a van and detained him at the Western Police District (WPD) headquarters at UN Avenue.

Dr. Gene Alzona Nisperos of the Health Alliance for Demcoracy (HEAD) reported that 10 persons were hurt when police violently dispersed a 6,000-strong demonstration in front of the Malate Catholic church in Manila last April 7. Seven of them were treated at the Ospital ng Maynila while the remaining three were taken to the Philippine General Hospital. Nine others sustained minor injuries.

The protest action coincided with the 112th General Assembly of International Parliamentary Union being held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. The protesters wanted to bring to the IPU’s attention the unabated killing of activists in the country.


Media not spared

This reporter suffered a one-and-a-half centimeter head wound while trying to help Fr. Benedicto Zaragosa, who lay prone on the ground. Zaragosa's forehead bled profusely as riot policemen bore on him with their meter-long rattan truncheons.

This reporter was pulled from the scuffle together with the bleeding priest. After shouting "Media ako! Media ako!" the police let go of this reporter and instead focused their attention on the bleeding priest.

This reporter saw the police hauling the bloodied priest like a hog away from the scuffle. Later, while being treated at the Ospital ng Maynila, this reporter saw the police bring Fathers Allan Jose Arcebuche and Zaragosa and Edwin Egar in for treatment.

Bulatlat’s Ronald Escanlar (in black shirt), injured and dragged by police

Meanwhile, the People’s Journal Tonight reported that its photographer, Roger Talan, suffered injuries in the arm during the scuffle.

The other media member hurt in the dispersal was Emil Mercado, 30, of Tudla MultiMedia Network who suffered a one-cm cut on the head and one of those taken to the Ospital ng Maynila.

Deliberate

In his report, Nisperos noted that most of those injured suffered head wounds which show “deliberate intent to cause harm or injury.” This, he said, is very far from the “maximum tolerance” policy claimed by the government.

Nisperos also said that the cuts, swelling and bruises were blunt injuries brought about by truncheon beating.

Police truncheon ralliers during dispersal

Nisperos scored how the injured priests were taken first to the Western Police District (WPD) headquarters before being taken to the hospital for treatment.

Tahasang paglabag po ito sa kanyang karapatan. Kung may doctor man sa WPD gaya ng sinasabi ng mga pulis, ang doctor na ito ay lumabag sa medical code of ethics” (This is a deliberate violation of his rights. If ever there was a doctor at the WPD, the doctor did not follow the medical code of ethics), he said.

No permit, no rally policy

According to organizers, the protest was supposed to be held at the adjacent Raha Sulaiman Park but police authorities, who had a ready platoon of riot policemen and a medium-sized fire truck, prevented protesters from converging at the park.

Officers from the WPD maintained that the protesters had no permit to rally.

Two legislators were present among the protesters - Bayan Muna (people first) Party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño and Anakpawis (toiling masses) Party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran.

A priest from the nearby Malate Catholic Church eventually allowed the protesters to hold their program at the church's compound.

The platoon-sized riot police have by then been augmented by another platoon of riot policemen from the Northern Police District.

Sidewalk debate

Near noon, the protesters lined up on the sidewalk in front of the church bearing placards that read "Stop Killing Activists." At the same time, cultural activists from the group Buklod Sining performed at the adjacent church gate.

Riot policemen were ordered to form a single row before the protesters on the sidewalk, occupying the middle of Marcelo H. del Pilar Street.

A debate ensued when police officers argued that the sidewalk was not part of the church's grounds, to which leaders of the protest, including the Malate Church priest who had allowed the holding of a program on the church's grounds, contended that the sidewalk was part of the church compound.

As the debate raged, a police officer, whose nametag read “Armazona,” ordered the riot policemen to occupy the end of the sidewalk that led to Remedios Circle, in effect surrounding the protesters.

Push and pull

The riot policeman at the end of the line started pushing the protesters back, which started the first wave of violence.

Riot policemen, armed with meter-long rattan truncheons and protected with helmets and shields, pushed on and struck the protesters who held onto their placards, which some riot policemen were pulling away.
 

Police without nameplates, just a few minutes before the dispersal. Riot police are required by law to wear nameplates.

There was a lull for a few seconds when a lady officer and some leaders of the protesters intervened. However, the scuffle resumed when a riot policeman began to steal a placard from a protester.

Riot policemen did not stop until they had the protesters inside the church compound, in the process inflicting head wounds on members of the clergy, church workers, and media people.
Among those arrested were Father Arcebuche, OSM, assistant parish priest of the Our Lady of the Abandoned in Sta. Ana, Manila; Egar, a member of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP); and Carmelite seminarian Zaragosa.

Obvious link

"The first quarter of 2005 alone saw 29 innocent lives snuffed out in the most brutal and treacherous manner," said the unity statement of Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, and Gabriela Women's Party distributed during the protest.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), meanwhile, recently released a report calling on the Philippine government to act on the murder of journalists, which now stand at 66 deaths since the fall of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986.

The still unsolved murder of Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) priest Father William Tadena, a supporter of the Hacienda Luisita strike, was also one of the issues carried during the protest. Tadena was slain in an ambush on March 13 in La Paz, Tarlac.

In a statement, militant group Bayan (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan) said the protest was timed to coincide with the IPU to call "international attention to the deteriorating human rights situation in the country."
Bulatlat

Photo by Arkibong Bayan

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