đź“·ABS-CBN News file photo
The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) on Saturday filed complaints against Mar Valbuena, the chair of the transport group Manibela, and two others for their protest outside the House of Representatives last Monday.
According to the QCPD, the protest caused “grave public inconvenience and disturbance.”
The charges include illegal assembly, alarm and scandal, and resistance and disobedience.
Protests and rallies are prohibited outside designated freedom parks without a permit from the local government, which some activist groups argue curtails freedom of assembly.
Transport groups, including Manibela, have been protesting the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) and the requirement for jeepney operators to join a transport cooperative as a first step toward phasing out traditional jeepneys.
They contend that joining cooperatives should be voluntary and that the replacement units for traditional jeepneys are too expensive, with government subsidies falling short of helping operators purchase them.
Valbuena, during the May 6 protest, claimed that their demonstration was orderly and that they had kept their distance from the police lines.
However, the QCPD maintains that Manibela’s actions were “certainly uncalled for” given the illegal assembly under Batas Pambansa 880. Manibela has yet to issue an official statement regarding the complaints filed by the QCPD.
