The Office of the City Prosecutor of Manila dismissed the charges filed by the Manila Police District (MPD) against “Pride 20,” the 17 protesters who were arrested after staging a Pride rally on June 26.
In her five-page resolution, Assistant City Prosecutor Kristine Ria Cirilo said she did not find probable cause to charge the protesters, who are members and allies of the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual, queer) community, for alleged violations of Batas Pambansa Blg. 880 or The Public Assembly Act of 1985, Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code, and Republic Act No. 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseades and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.
Despite the protesters' lack of permit to stage the Pride demonstration, Cirilo said the court can not penalize the protesters because the police failed to identify the leader or organizer of the rally.
"We will assume that the respondents were merely participants. The law states that no person can be punished or held criminally liable for participating in or attending an otherwise peaceful assembly," the resolution, dated December 2, read.
Cirilo also said that, upon reviewing videos of the Pride protest, they found that it was staged peacefully and with physical distancing measures in place amid the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The commotion at the demonstration only ensued after a police officer collared one protester, she said.
"The crowd eventually left the area and took to their own vehicles. The irony came when the police officers who were charged to disperse the assembly, actually prevented the participants from leaving the area and proceeded to arrest them," the resolution read.
The fiscal noted that protests, regardless if the participants have a permit or not, should be peacefully dispersed and that the police should practice maximum tolerance in doing so.
Finally, Cirilo said the court cannot charge Pride 20 for violating RA 11332 because the police failed to confirm if the protesters had COVID-19 or other notifiable diseases.
The arrested activists spent four days at the MPD Headquarters after marching to Mendiola Freedom Park on June 26 to protest the Anti-Terrorism Bill and the jeepney phaseout, and to call for mass testing amid the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Among those arrested were three minors, who were later released by the police in recognizance to the custody of Gabriela Representative Arlene Brosas, and were later turned over to their parents.
Atty. Minnie Lopez, Pride 20's counsel, welcomed the resolution and said it can be considered as additional basis for the complaint filed by the activists against at least 32 MPD police officers before the Ombudsman.
"The criminal complaint is utterly baseless as can be surmised from a simple reading of the Resolution which considered the counter-evidence presented by the members of the Pride 20. Indeed, this alarming and remorseful practice of law enforcements of filing baseless charges to curtail basic and fundamental freedoms – such as the constitutional right to peaceably assemble – should and must stop," she told reporters.
"This recent development bolsters the factual and legal basis of the criminal and administrative complaint we filed vs the MPD at the Office of the Ombudsman. We will provide the OMB with a copy of the Resolution ASAP," she added.