MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila police will be deploying plainclothes elements in and around Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, a "non-protest zone" where protests and other mass gatherings are prohibited, to arrest any protesters who hold demonstrations, its regional director who also violated quarantine rules said.
"We won't set them free just like that anymore, just to show them that we mean business," Metro Manila's top cop said in Filipino at a press conference Monday morning.
Related Stories
"No discussion. If anyone brings out a placard, they're arrested right away," Sinas also said, adding that protesters will be asked to leave.
Those who refuse, he said, will be brought to Quezon City Police District headquarters at Camp Tomas Caringal aboard the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology's mobile detention van.
Holding mass gatherings, like a birthday party for example, is prohibited during the general community quarantine.
'We will arrest you'
At his press briefing last Monday, July 20, Police Gen. Archie Gamboa, chief of the national police, asked the public to hold their SONA protests online instead but promised that the police would practice "maximum tolerance."
But the country's top cop held a different tone at his press briefing on Monday.
"The IATF says that gatherings should be not more than ten [people]... once you conglomerate and you number to ten, no more questions asked, we will arrest you," Gamboa said Monday morning.
He added that repeat violators would be charged with violating Republic Act No. 11332.
The national police has often used the violation of social distancing rules, along with the earlier law, to arrest protesters despite Sinas himself having violated those rules unscathed.
The PNP has also directed protesters to proceed to the UP campus instead, where protests are allowed.
Past protests that were held online and at the UP campus, though, also saw protesters getting arrested and harassed.
What do police guidelines say?
The PNP's own operational procedures urge officers to practice maximum tolerance multiple times (Rule 25.1 and Rule 28.6) while its Use of Force Continuum says that light force should be applied only when firm language and verbal directives fail.
Ethical standards that officers of the law are expected to adhere to include a commitment to democracy, public service, non-partisanship, and respect for human rights. The agency's doctrine is a public document that anyone can access.
According to Know Your Rights: A Citizen’s Primer on Law Enforcement, an official resource and public document that is available on the PNP's own website:
"In conducting official police operations, basic requirements prescribe that all officers be in complete uniform with an ID and nameplate, be led by a commissioned officer and be on board a marked PNP vehicle."
Rule 25 of the Revised PNP Operational Procedures, a document of the same kind as the latter, reads the following:
The PNP shall not interfere with the holding of a public assembly...No public assembly with a permit shall be dispersed. However, when a public assembly becomes violent, the civil disturbance management contingents may disperse such public assembly.
No arrest of any leader, organizer, or participant shall be made unless he violates during the assembly a law, statute, or ordinance...Respect for human rights and equal treatment and protection for everybody shall be strictly observed; and PNP personnel shall observe maximum tolerance
Police are instructed to observe maximum tolerance in all dispersal operations as far as rallies and demonstrations are concerned.
A civil disturbance management (CDM) contingent shall also be in prescribed uniform and may not carry with them firearms, as only in the event of violence, threat of violence, and deliberate destruction of property (at which point the Ground Commander shall issue a warning that a dispersal will be implemented should the activity continue) may anti-riot devices such as tear gas, smoke grenades, water cannons, and other similar apparatuses be used.
During another protest held at the University of the Philippines campus, police used Batas Pambansa 880, a Marcos-era law which includes a “no permit, no rally” provision, in justifying the filing of cases against protesters.
As early as 2006, lawyers and advocates have said it clamps down on civil liberties. — Video from NCRPO PIO; Video editing by Philstar.com/Erwin Cagadas