‘Batasan 5’ want to go home for Lent

The five "Housemates" who have turned the conference room of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. into their temporary dwelling want to go home and spend Holy Week with their families.

To prevent the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the police from arresting them, Representatives Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño and Joel Virador of Bayan Muna, Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis and Liza Maza of Gabriela asked the Court of Appeals yesterday to issue a restraining order to these agencies.

"We hope the Court of Appeals will treat our petition with haste in order that the grave abuse of discretion by the justice department and the Philippine National Police can be rectified, allowing us to finally go home without being arrested," they said.

They said the threats of these agencies to arrest them once they step out of the House premises in Quezon City amount to a "grave abuse of discretion." They maintained that they could only be arrested with court-issued warrants.

Ocampo and his colleagues claim the rebellion charges filed against them with the DOJ and the threats of the authorities to detain them are part of President Arroyo’s massive crackdown on her critics and political enemies. — Jess Diaz, Jose Rodel Clapano