MANILA, Philippines — At least 20 persons were arrested during a rally against the anti-terror bill in Manila yesterday morning.
The protesters arrived at the Chino Roces Bridge at around 10 a.m. to conduct a program for their Pride Protest Against Tyranny rally.
Manila Police District spokesman Lt. Col. Carlo Manuel said the protesters did not have a permit and defied orders when they tried to flee after being accosted. About 30 other protesters managed to flee, he said.
Police told the rallyists to disperse since they were violating Batas Pambansa 860, the public assembly law, and quarantine protocols.
Rey Salinas of the Bahaghari protest group, who was among those arrested, said they were about to start a rally after a brief march when riot police swarmed in.
One officer forcibly took the key of a van used by the protesters and drove them off to a police station, he said.
“They initially can’t tell us what we violated. They said we were not observing social distancing but that’s not true,” Salinas said.
MPD director Brig. General Rolando Miranda told The STAR “there is a rule of law in Manila. They violated it that is why they were arrested and charged.”
The protesters, among them members of the Gabriela women’s rights group, said, “the National Alliance of Women denounces the police’s curtailment of the people’s right to organize. It must be remembered that our rights are not suspended under the quarantine.”
They said the arrests are “a testament to how the state does not need the terror bill to exact its crackdown on dissent and how much worse the political climate will be for dissidents should it be passed.”