Text by MIKHAIL FRANZ FLORES
Photos and Video by VINCENT GO
Youth protesters and anti-riot cops exchanged volleys of stones as President Benigno Aquino III was about to deliver his third State of the Nation Address on Monday. Protesters said the ensuing 20-minute clash left 95 from their ranks injured. Several journalists were also hurt.
Violence erupted when police tried to block the protesters who dismantled the steel fences erected on the island between the eastbound and westbound lanes of Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City in an attempt to get nearer the Batasang Pambansa complex. The protesters were among the 5,200 who took part in the SONA ng Bayan organized by militant groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.
A number of protesters attacked a truck used by police as blockade and rocked a police car. The cops, in turn, beat up protesters with their truncheons.
Former Bayan Muna party-list Representative Satur Ocampo, whose group organized the SONA ng Bayan, said the youth protesters were making a “political statement” and asserting their right to assemble and air their grievances against the government.
“(Isang expression yun ng protesta nung youth and students component na isang protesta dun sa pag-set ng barrier na mas malayo sa nakaraan (The youth and students sector were protesting the government’s move to designate an area for protest actions that is farther than what the government used to assign in the past),” he said.
This year’s SONA ng Bayan was held near the Ever Gotesco Mall. It was done last year outside the St. Peter Parish, just a few blocks from Congress. Ocampo said there was a time when protesters were allowed to hold their activity in front of Sandiganbayan at Commonwealth Avenue and Batasan Road.
The former party-list lawmaker said the most ideal place for the SONA ng Bayan would be “as close as possible” to the Batasang Pambansa.
Chief Superintendent Mario de la Vega, Quezon City Police District director, said the violence could have been prevented had the protesters abided by the agreement to stay within their designated areas.
“They should have honored what we agreed upon because we have allowed them to voice out all their sentiments to the government,” he said.
De la Vega also said they cannot accede to the protesters’ wish to hold camp near Batasan since they cannot be assured that “100 percent” of the protesters would ensure a peaceful and orderly demonstration.
“If the agitators and provocateurs become violent, it will be very hard for us to contain if they are near the Batasan,” he said in Filipino. “It’s better for both of us that they follow their assigned areas so that we can defend our area also.”
Ocampo said the protesters did not intend to engage the police in an altercation and the organizers quickly instructed the protesters to retreat and return to their lines.
“Sapat na naipahayag na yung expression na dissatisfied at hindi acceptable yung ganitong lugar (It’s enough that we have expressed our dissatisfaction with the unacceptability of the place assigned for protesters),” he said.
Bayan’s four-hour SONA was highlighted by the burning of an effigy of Aquino. This year, it depicted Aquino as Two Face—the villain in the Batman movies— riding a bulldozer.
“Having two faces means being deceptive. That is what this government has excelled in the past two years,” said Crisanto de Leon, chair of UGATLahi Artist Collective which designed the effigy.
The protesters dispersed at around 5:30 p.m.
