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16 students arrested in Iligan City during Independence day protest

Rambo Talabong

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16 students arrested in Iligan City during Independence day protest
(3rd UPDATE) Kabataan Partylist Northern Mindanao says the protesters were arrested around 10 am on Friday

MANILA, Philippines (3rd UPDATE) – Police arrested 16 students in Iligan City during an Independence Day rally against the anti-terror bill on Friday morning, June 12, despite following physical distancing measures.

Northern Mindanao police chief Brigadier General Rolando Anduyan told Rappler in a phone interview that the students were apprehended for violating quarantine rules at the Freedom Park of Iligan City.

In a phone interview with Rappler, Gil Nambatac, a participant of the protest who arrived late and avoided being arrested, said the police apprehended the students just as the program started.

Nambatac said police arrested them without provocation.

Kabataan Partylist Northern Mindanao said in a post that the protesters gathered at the IMCC rotunda in Barangay Pala-o in Iligan  were arrested at around 10 am.

A video of the rally posted by the Himugso Kolektibo Facebook page showed the student protesters wearing black shirts, carrying placards, and amply distanced from each other.

They were shouting against the enactment of the anti-terror bill, a controversial proposed law seen by experts as an infringement on Filipinos’ rights. The controversial bill has been approved by Congress and is waiting for the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The cops brought the  protesters to the Iligan CIty Police Station 5. They were released on Friday evening, receiving a “citation” from police.

According to Anduyan, the students are possibly facing complaints of violating the Bayanihan Act—a law used broadly by authorities to arrest quarantine violators.

 

 

Some of those arrested were: 

  • Khyle Christian Concepcion
  • Portia Irma Vacalares
  • Jerson Entrampas Aboabo
  • Aimee Lucas
  • Sophia Saramosing
  • Luigi Almodiel
  • Mcroneil Chua

For this year’s commemoration of the Philippines’ 122nd Independence Day, various groups held “mañanita” protests nationwide as the country continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic. 

The mañanita protests take off from the widely criticized birthday celebration of National Capital Region Police Office chief Major General Debold Sinas, which was held during lockdown. Despite breaching quarantine protocols, President Rodrigo Duterte himself said Sinas – who had insisted that it was just a “mañanita” despite the mass gathering – did nothing wrong. (READ: After apology, Sinas says ‘nothing wrong’ with birthday party

On the eve of the Independence Day protests,  the Department of Justice (DOJ) said rallies were temporarily banned” during the pandemic for public health reasons.

However, unlike the arrests in Iligan City, the protests in Metro Manila were held without any untoward incidents.  – Rappler.com 

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Rambo Talabong

Rambo Talabong covers the House of Representatives and local governments for Rappler. Prior to this, he covered security and crime. He was named Jaime V. Ongpin Fellow in 2019 for his reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. In 2021, he was selected as a journalism fellow by the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics.