The 11 activists arrested by police in Iloilo City after the dispersal of a protest against budget cuts for state universities and colleges. (photo courtesy of Sine Panayanon)
Youth activists said “virtual martial law” exists in Iloilo City, where 11 protesters, including two professors as well as students of the University of the Philippines Visayas, were arrested Friday as they protested cuts in the budgets of state universities and colleges.
The protesters had just exited the UP campus in Iloilo City for a march to the provincial capitol when they were stopped on General Luna Street by around 200 riot police who split up their ranks, forcing the bulk back to the school and pushing the remaining hundred or so to the sidewalk where a standoff ensued for an hour, Anakbayan said.
The standoff ended when police arrested those they perceived to be the protest leaders, among them Fr. Marco Sulayao, vicar general of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente’s Iloilo diocese, UPV teachers Erick Dasig Aguilar and Gretchen Velarde, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Panay chair Hope Hervilla and Karapatan-Panay secretary general Reylan Vergara.
A video taken by the independent media collective Sine Panayanon of the protest and arrests showed, among others, police handcuffing an activist even as he demanded to know what he was being arrested for and to be read his rights.
Those arrested were taken to Iloilo City police headquarters where they were charged with illegal assembly and “disobedience to lawful order.”
They were eventually released early Saturday morning.
WATCH A VIDEO OF THE PROTEST AND ARRESTS BY SINE PANAYANON:
It was the second dispersal of a protest action in Iloilo this week, following that of activists commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law near the Iloilo capitol Monday.
“This is virtual martial law,” Anakbayan chairman Vencer Crisostomo said in a statement. “We are outraged by the brazen violation of the UP community’s right to peaceful assembly and free expression.”
Noting that the dispersal was apparently the offshoot of security measures for Iloilo’s hosting of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, Crisostomo said: “The Aquino government can spend millions to host lavish occasions like the APEC meetings but cannot even give the sufficient budget for UP and other state universities. They are only too eager to please APEC delegates to the point of inflicting violence on protesting students.”
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/117989/video--youth-activists-blast-virtual-martial-law-in-iloilo
This appears to be a protest action mounted by Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) front organizations and their sympathizers. Anakbayan (Children of the Nation), is a CPP youth front and is a member of the main multisectoral umbrella front organization, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-New Patriotic Alliance). Representatives from the Panay chapters of BAYAN and main CPP human rights umbrella front group KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) also participated in the demonstration.
ReplyDeleteNow the Anakbayan website (http://www.anakbayan.org/) characterizes itself as follows:
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"Anakbayan is the comprehensive, national democratic mass organization of the Filipino youth.
Established on the 30th of November 1998–the anniversary of Andres’ Bonifacio and pre-Martial Law organization, Kabataang Makabayan–it seeks to unite the youths from different sectors of society to advance the cause of national democracy: workers, peasants, fisherfolk, urban poor, students, out-of-school youth, women, professionals, migrants, Moros, Christians, etc.
It is open to all Filipino youths (ages 13-35 yrs. old) as long as they are willing to actively uphold the Program of the Organization.
Anakbayan holds the belief that Philippine society today is not truly free nor democratic. It is under the control of U.S imperialism, along with local landlords, big capitalists, and corrupt gov’t officials. The National Democratic Struggle seeks to realize true national liberation for the country and the realization of the democratic rights of the people."
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Now the National Democratic (NatDem) movement is comprised of organizations that essentially hold ideological views consistent with the National Democratic Front, the political wing of the CPP. The fact that Anakbayan was established on Nov 30, the anniversary date of the formation of Kabataan Makabayan (KM-Nationalist Youth), the clandestine youth organization of the NDF, should give one a good idea about where Anakbayan stands ideologically. Yet members of the group, vehemently deny that Anakbayan is a CPP front and assert that those who say otherwise are engaged in "redbaiting." Give me a break!!