This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 9, April 10-16, 2005
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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 © 2004 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
HUMAN RIGHTS
WATCH
Protest vs State Terror
Violently Dispersed
Bulatlat
Media not spared
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.
Meanwhile, the People’s Journal Tonight reported that its
photographer, Roger Talan, suffered injuries in the arm during the scuffle.
Deliberate
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.
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