ILOILO CITY – A court has dismissed the case against 41 activists and a lawyer for holding a protest while this city was at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown more than two years ago.
Judge Radney Reginaldo Garcia of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MCTC-Branch 7) said the protest was merely a “simple disobedience.”
In a 25-page decision dated Oct. 14, 2022 released this week, Garcia said the prosecution failed “to prove beyond reasonable doubt” that they violated the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act which was implemented during the lockdown.
The Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) arrested 41 activists from various Left-wing organizations and Atty. Angelo Karlo Guillen of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL Panay) on May 1, 2020 for holding the protest.
The protest was held not in line with Labor Day but to condemn the April 30, 2020 murder of Jose Reynaldo “Jory” Porquia, the Iloilo City coordinator of Bayan Muna party-list.