Cebu 8 seeks dismissal of charges

The camp of Cebu 8, the 8 individuals arrested and detained after holding a protest against the Anti-Terror Bill are seeking a dismissal of the charge or charges against them. | Contributed photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The eight individuals arrested after staging a rally calling to scrap the Anti-Terror Bill (ATB) are now seeking for the dismissal of the charges lodged against them.

The camp of activists Jaime Paglinawan, Joahanna Veloso, Al Ingking, Bern Cañedo, Dyan Gumanao, Nar Porlas, Janry Ubal, and Clement Corominas said they had already submitted their counter-affidavits in response to the complaints filed by the police.

“We pray for the dismissal of all the charges against Cebu 8…We maintain that the charges against them have no legal and factual bases,” the National Union of People’s Lawyers in Cebu (NUPL Cebu) said in a press statement.

NUPL Cebu represented the eight people accused, also collectively called as Cebu 8.

Police in Cebu accused the group of simple resistance and disobedience to an agent of a person in authority, and violating the Public Assembly Act of 1985 and Law on Reporting of Communicable Diseases after conducting a rally in front of the University of the Philippines Cebu (UP Cebu) in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City last June 5.

They were arrested and brought to police custody where they spent three days in detention until on June 8 when a Cebu City court ordered for their immediate release.

Cebu 8’s camp maintained that their clients should not be arrested for conducting a protest-rally amid prevailing quarantine protocols due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“We assert that the indiscriminate arrests were highly irregular and violate their constitutional rights to peaceably assemble and freely express their sentiments, rights that cannot be defeated by a vague and baseless police order in the guise of implementing a local executive order,” said NUPL Cebu.

Police earlier said they arrested the eight individuals for violating Cebu City Executive Order No. 79 which prohibited the conduct of mass gatherings while the city undergoes a general community quarantine (GCQ) phase.

“The police officers involved also violated the constitutional right to due process of all of the Accused by arresting them without informing them of the specific grounds for their arrest and without reading to them their Miranda rights at the time of their arrest,” the camp said.

NUPL Cebu earlier said they were planning to file countercharges against the cops who arrested their clients. /dbs

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