The Quezon City government has denied the request of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan’s (BAYAN) to stage a protest rally along Batasan Road, Quezon City on Monday, July 25, during the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
In a letter addressed to BAYAN Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr. on Tuesday, July 19, the QC Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) declined the group’s application to use the area filed on July 15 citing two reasons- the Batasan Road is not a “Freedom Park” to hold protests, rallies, and mass gatherings; and that the said gathering will greatly affect the normal flow of traffic for motorist using the thoroughfare.
DPOS head (Ret.) Gen. Elmo San Diego on Thursday, July 21, told Manila Bulletin that their decision only followed the recommendation of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) which has the capability to assess the situation in the area during such events.
He said that they considered the public safety on Batasan Road as well as their security forces, adding that they suggested for the group to hold their activity in the city’s freedom parks -- Quezon Memorial Circle, Commission on Human Rights compound, and University of the Philippines Diliman campus.
“The denial by the Quezon City DPOS of our application for a rally permit violates the law and our constitutional rights. The denial is arbitrary and follows the fascist imposition of the police. It is patently wrong,” the BAYAN said in a statement posted on Facebook on Thursday.
“The DPOS denial suffers from a gross ignorance of the law and sheer laziness. The permit for Batasan Road was denied because it is not a freedom park. Of course it is not a freedom park. That is precisely why a rally permit was applied for. There is a wrong notion that rallies can only be held in freedom parks. That is incorrect and is belied by history. The SONA 2016 and 2017 rallies were held in Batasan Road despite it not being a freedom park. Annually, rallies were held along Commonwealth Avenue even if it is not a freedom park,” it added.
The group said that the DPOS and Philippine Nation Police (PNP) “cannot invoke traffic convenience as a basis to deny the permit as it is not a valid ground under BP (Batas Pambansa) 880.”
It added that according to the law, a permit can be denied only if there is “convincing evidence of a clear and present danger” to public safety.
It said that heavy traffic does not constitute clear and present danger to public safety and what the DPOS did is to “copy and paste” the recommendation of the police.
“What the DPOS did in this case was to copy and paste the police recommendation in denying our application for a rally permit. The DPOS did not exercise its own judgement and independent evaluation of the facts. It did not exercise independence and autonomy as a local government unit. The 'copy-paste' denial is also lazy. Naging sunud-sunuran lang sa pulis ang DPOS(The DPOS only became subservient to the police),” it said.
“We will assert our right to peaceful assembly and will file charges against police officers who will arrest and harm peaceful protesters,” the group added.