Militants to charge police for dispersal of budget cuts rally
Protesters who stormed the gates of the Batasang Pambansa Thursday said they will file charges against the Quezon City Police District and the Security Office of the House of Representatives for âbrutal dispersal" of their rally. Leaders of KILOS NA LABAN SA BUDGET CUTS alliance â composed of youth, student, teacher, health worker, migrant, and urban poor groups â as well as Anakbayan, said they will bring their case to the Commission on Human Rights. Security personnel used bursts of water from fire hoses to keep the protesters off the Batasan gates. Anakbayan national chairperson Vencer Crisostomo said âsome of the participants held on to the gates to keep them open as a symbolic gesture of openness in the part of the House," adding that â[t]o prevent any untoward incident, none entered the Congress premises and merely sought to keep the gates open." According to Anakbayan, five persons were seriously injured, including two members of Anakbayanâs National Executive Committee. Anakbayan said national treasurer John Francis Losaria was âhit by a stone thrown by a cop" and while national education officer Edward Pastor was supposedly ârepeatedly hit by truncheons after he sought to separate and calm down the scuffling protesters and police." Both are currently receiving treatment at the East Avenue Medical Center. Protesting budget cuts The protesters trooped to the Batasan to call on lawmakers âto reject the proposed 2012 national budget on the grounds that it contains both cuts and insufficient allocations for basic social services." They lamented that following âlast yearâs P1 billion budget cut to 97 State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), 50 SUCs will face a P500 million slash for 2012. â They also noted that âthe proposed budget contains huge funds for the so-called âpresidential pork barrelâ, or the intelligence funds of the Office of the President, from P65 billion to P161 billion." However, the Ankabayan figures could not be reconciled with a recent report that the Office of the President is requesting for a P600 million intelligence fund. âHeatedâ budget debate âended wellâ
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Thursday morningâs House budget hearings eventually âended well" despite the âheated" debate on recent acquisitions of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO), adding that administration officials came prepared and proved that there were no irregularities in any of their transactions. âI understand it was a bit heated but later on everything cooled down and the parties were all satisfied. In fact, Congressman Rufus Rodriguez concluded that there was nothing illegal about the procurement process. So, well, allâs well that ends well," Lacierda said. In a tense exchange over PCDSPOâs recent procurement of Macbook laptops and Blackberry phones, Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay scolded PCDSPO Secretary Ramon Carandang for his allegedly arrogant remarks during the budget deliberations. The Malacañang official later apologized. â MRT/ELR/VS, GMA News