Four individuals – whom police did not name – were subpoenaed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) over their alleged roles in violence amid the anti-corruption rallies last Sept. 21.
‘Of those four, only one has son far appeared,’ CIDG public information chief Maj. Helen dela Cruz said in a press briefing in Camp Crame on Monday.
‘They are invited to appear to shed light on the facts and circumstances surrounding the violent incidents that occurred,’ she added.
Dela Cruz declined to name the individuals subpoenaed, only saying that they are male ‘leaders with large followings’ and referring to them as ‘resource persons.’
‘We arrested some people who really were players in the incident. We associated them with who their leaders were. In the course of the investigation, it was determined,’ dela Cruz said.
She stressed that Republic Act No. 10973 gave the CIDG the power to issue subpoenas in relation to its investigations.
And if the three other subpoenaed individuals fail to appear before the police? Dela Cruz said RA 10973 also gives the CIDG the right to file a case for indirect contempt before the respective regional trial court.
The three other subpoenaed individuals may face a fine of P30,000 and six months of imprisonment if they do not comply with the CIDG subpoena, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) public information chief Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño in the briefing.
‘In the coming days. they will invite over 20 individuals,’ Tuaño added, citing information from CIDG Director Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico II.
The violence erupted at the foot of Ayala Bridge and the Mendiola Peace Arch – which lead 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, its subsequent program at Mendiola before the riot, and the Trillion Peso March were all part of a series of protests condemning corruption in the government amid investigations into alleged anomalies in flood control projects.
‘Candle lighting’
The subpoenaed individual who appeared before the CIDG on Monday identified himself as Park Alamada Pangawilan, also known as Kuya Park on social media.
In a phone interview with reporters in Camp Crame, Pangawilan denied involvement in the riot, saying the violence had already erupted at both the Ayala Bridge and the Mendiola Peace Arch when he and his group arrived there from another program at the Liwasang Bonifacio.
He also maintained that he and his group brought lighters to the rally for a candle-lighting vigil originally planned to be held at Mendiola.
‘There was no intention to burn anything. There was no intention to cause chaos. I was even scolding the youth who were causing trouble. I told them the police and the military weren’t our enemies,’ Pangawilan stressed in Filipino.