CHR chief: ‘CPR’ has no legal basis

Senate President Franklin Drilon reiterated yesterday his call for Malacañang to junk its calibrated preemptive response (CPR) to street protesters following a statement by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that the policy lacks any legal basis.

CHR Chairwoman Purificacion Quisumbing told the Senate in a recent budget hearing that the policy "was contrary to law" and that there was no "legal impediment" for the commission to support a petition filed by various groups before the Supreme Court questioning the legality of the policy.

The CHR "had several statements, including advisories, concerning the CPR. We have given an official position that the CPR has no legal basis," she said during the hearing.

Quisumbing added that the policy "is not in the law and therefore the CPR... must be seen as either contrary to law or has no basis in law."

Drilon said the policy must be junked because it "only instigated state violence on peaceful religious marches and political rallies."

The CPR policy was implemented by Malacañang last September following successive protest rallies held by critics of President Arroyo in reaction to allegations of her involvement in electoral fraud.

Under the policy, Drilon said police used force to disperse any rallies for which organizers had not been given permits by local government units. Several protesters have been injured in the resulting clashes, and some female protesters complained of sexual harassment as well as injuries inflicted on them by policemen.

Policemen also arrested protesters following dispersals, prompting angry reactions from various sectors.

The anti-Arroyo groups’ outrage over the CPR policy reached its peak in October when a group of protesters, led by former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. and leaders of cause-oriented organizations, were dispersed by policemen using water cannons when they attempted to march on to Malacañang Palace. — Marvin Sy