Youth solon condemns violent dispersal of youth protest
Regardless if Malacanang grounds was a no-rally zone, the police clearly exceeded the necessary force to repel or to prevent any danger, real or apparent, that the students posed. Sure, the students may have risked being arrested, or blocked at the least, but they did not have to be confronted with rifles, contrary to well-settled rules of engagement, be dragged on asphalt, have their clothes ripped apart, and be be beaten up.
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino strongly condemns the violent dispersal of youth and student protesters who held a lightning rally in Mendiola earlier today.
Palatino said, “After insulting the public’s intelligence by spewing out ridiculous lies and alibis to justify Arroyo’s lavish dinners, authorities are now resorting to excessive force and violence to quell disgust over the administration’s gluttony amidst widespread crisis and poverty.”
“This is not right and downright unjust. Hindi natin puwedeng palagpasin ito. Hindi na nga makapagpaliwanag ng maayos ang pangulo sa publiko, ngayon naman halos patayin sa suntok, bugbog st sipa ang mga kabataang nagpoprotesta. Kung dati’y mga mamahaling dinner lang ang hindi natin masikmura, ngayon nadagdagan pa ang dahilan para lalo tayong masuklam sa administrasyong ito,” Palatino said.
The young solon said that he will file a resolution directing the House Committee on Human Rights to immediately conduct an investigation of the violent dispersal.
Palatino added that his office’s legal team is also studying filing legal charges against police authorities and members of the Presidential Security Group who clearly used excessive force and have violated their protocols of engagement, with news footage and photos as evidence.#
photos from the Associated Press (by Aaron Favila) and Reuters (by Romeo Ranoco)
Condemn state violence! No to arbitrary arrests and detention!
We, Anakbayan, League of Filipino Students, Student Christian Movement of the Philippines, National Union of Students of the Philippines and College Editors Guild of the Philippines condemn in the strongest terms the violent dispersal and mass arrests of the youth rally at the Malacañang gates by elements of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) and the Manila Police District – Philippine National Police yesterday, August 19.
What happened at the Malacañang gates is an exaggerated use of force against the youth and students. At the moment we reached Gate 7 of Malacañang, elements of the PSG and PNP immediately welcomed us with blows and nightsticks. Some of them were not even in uniform. Negotiations went underway only after they have arrested 20 of our fellow students and 17 of us have suffered mild to serious physical injuries.
They were like rabid dogs hitting many of our fellow students in the face, abdomen, some even pinning them to the ground like common criminals. Those who have fallen were stepped on by the perpetrators like they were putting off cigarette butts. Female students were harassed by un-uniformed elements which held and pulled their clothes off, almost getting them undressed.
Our message is clear: we are enraged over Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s corrupt practices and tyrannical rule. Shame on this government who has the gall of lavishing millions for foreign trips and banquets while raking millions in corruption, one after another ever since she came into power.
We want justice! The impunity of state forces in committing violence must be stopped. We want justice and let the callous Arroyo government accountable for the grand malversation of public funds in history.
Let this be a warning to the Arroyo government: she was put into power by People Power, an event she has constantly insulted and desecrated. Now we say, we can pull her down through People Power, again.
Tomorrow, we commemorate Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino’s martyrdom, who said “The Filipino is worth dying for.” Today, we say yes, the Filipinos are worth fighting for.
As we face this tyrant, we the youth, are very conscious and aware that the last nine months might not be the last as Arroyo pushes for term extension. And we are ready to stage a storm again, in the gates of Malacañang and beyond. #
Anakbayan
League of Filipino Students
Student Christian Movement of the Philippines
National Union of Students of the Philippines
College Editors Guild of the Philippines
KABATAAN Partylist
Tags: congress, Kabataan Party, Malacanang, Mong Palatino, protest, resolution, youth sector
Dapat kasi alam nila lugar nila sa mundo!Bat kasi sila pumasok!?Panggugulo lang ginagawa ng mga yan.Dinadamay pa nila ang mga pulis.Bat pag ang mga pulis at sundalo ang binubugbog at pinagtutulungan ng mga raliyista walang human rights violation?Remember the SONA incident?Knowing your rights is not enough.Kaylangang alam mo rin ang limits mo.Sumobra sila.Its good na nakatikim sila!
The police are only allowed to use the least force necessary to prevent the ‘attack’ or ‘danger’, and the danger has to be real, not imagined. That’s maximum tolerance, especially because the police are armed and they are trained in violence–the students are not. It is to compensate for the advantage of armed authorities. certainly, the police and the PSG exceeded maximum tolerance by beating the students up, ripping their clothes apart, dragging them on asphalt, and lifting them by their hair, confronting them with guns. Students chanting and marching, unarmed, do not pose the danger that necessitated the use of the degree of violence the police employed.
The students were also protesting a legitimate public concern–the controversial million-dollar lavish spending of the President in light of a mourning nation and a nation suffering form abject poverty and hunger.
So, sinu-sino nga ba ang sumusobra?
FYI, not the same brian.
yep, figured
what the police and psg’s did was a clear abuse of power. umikot ang tiyan ko sa galit at pandidiri nung nakita ko yung mga litrato ng dispersal. nothing justifies that kind of violence.
[...] ang mga entri nina Bikoy Villanueva at Prometheus Brown tungkol sa marahas na pagbuwag sa lehitimong protesta ng mga estudyante at [...]
Walang kaso sakin kung magrally sila.My point is dapat na sa tamang lugar naman nila gawin diba?At ang pumasok dun sa loob e alam naman ng lahat ng bawal talaga.At nagtatakbuhan pa sila sa pagmamadaling pumasok!Naghahanap lang talaga sila ng sakit ng katawan.Hindi ako expert sa mga ganto pero hindi ba pwedeng kasuhan ang mga raliyista kapag gantong lumalagpas na sila sa dapat?Di naman pwedeng puro yung mga police lang e.Isa pa di naman yun mangyayare kung di din nanggulo sa loob tong mga protesters.Di ko din naman balak ipagtanggol yung mga police kung mapatunayang mali sila.Comment ko lang naman!
Wala ka palang alam eh bat nagcocomment ka.
Well if dapat kasuhan yung mga rallyists for breaking in, then yun dapat ang ginawa, walang rason for any means violent dispersal on the PSGs and the Police’s part. Nakakasuka ito, thinking mga estudyante ang mga pinagsasapak ng mga PSG at police. Parang sa larong piko, pag tumapak ka sa linya, taya ka and you lose your turn, hindi ka dapat pagsasapakin at kukuyugin ng mga kalaro. Eh yun na nga lang kung tarantado talaga yung mga kalaro mo. Hahaha.
Ano ba to, nakonek ko na si piko. Hahaha.
the violent police dispersal of the lightning rally, conducted by the students, presents us with a clear picture of what the State is prepared to do, if only to protect the interest of those in power. i sustain the legal arguments as enunciated by bikoy on maximum tolerance, but as i surmise, that since there is a slow crawling dictatorship in our midst, we can no longer expect any show of respect for human rights from this dying, lying and cheating administration.
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