The National Police Commission (Napolcom) said there was no intimidation in the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) subpoena of Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) student journalist Jacob Baluyot over the Sept. 21 rallies.
Baluyot was summoned by the police last Oct. 10 to explain his alleged role in the violence that erupted during the protests, but he refused to appear before the CIDG, denying his involvement and invoking his constitutional right to remain silent and have legal counsel.
‘I don’t think there’s any form of intimidation on that end. Just because they’re investigating doesn’t mean there’s a clampdown on our friends in the media,’ Napolcom Vice Chairperson Rafael Calinisan said in a forum at their office on Friday.
‘They should be able to do their jobs properly, especially at the time of September 21, when there was a commotion. There’s no pressure, no discrimination that was done or will be done by the Philippine National Police,’ he added.
Calinisan on Friday signed a memorandum of agreement with the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) in a bid to protect media workers’ rights and deter police officers from threatening or harassing journalists.
The PTFoMS said campus journalists were also among those covered by the agreement.
INQUIRER.net sought comment from Baluyot, but he has yet to respond.
However, Baluyot previously told INQUIRER.net that the CIDG subpoena was an ‘orchestrated witch hunt’ against youth activists and campus journalists.
Baluyot is among four students subpoenaed by the police over violent incidents during the Sept. 21 anti-corruption rallies.
The three others are De La Salle University – College of Saint Benilde student Aldrin Kitsune; PUP Central Student Council chairperson Tiffany Brillante; and University of the Philippines Diliman University Student Council chairperson Joaquin Buenaflor.
The violence erupted at the foot of Ayala Bridge and the Mendiola Peace Arch in Manila – which led to Malacañang Palace – during the Baha Sa Luneta rally in Rizal Park last Sept. 21.
Police arrested over 200 rioters – including more than 80 minors – amid the chaos, prompting human rights groups to condemn law enforcement for supposedly not exercising maximum tolerance.
The Baha Sa Luneta rally, the subsequent program at Mendiola before the riot, and the Trillion Peso March were all part of a series of protests condemning government corruption amid investigations into alleged anomalies in flood control projects.