Filtered By: Topstories
News

Makabayan solons condemn arrest of QC residents asking for assistance


Lawmakers from the Makabayan Bloc on Wednesday condemned the dispersal and arrest of residents of Sitio San Roque in Quezon City after they formed a barricade as they asked for assistance from the local government amid the threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

In a statement, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Ferdinand Gaite called for the immediate release of the arrested residents and a swift action on their request for food and financial assistance.

"Social unrest is growing and erupting as the government's crisis response remains wanting.... Delayed na nga ang aksyon para pigilin ang pagpasok at pagkalat ng epidemyang ito sa bansa, hanggang ngayon na lumalala na ang krisis ay delayed pa rin ang aksyon ng gobyerno," he said.

"This is what we get when a government confronts a health crisis as a peace and order issue, we get military men at the helm of the government's action plan, and we get brutal response to legitimate demands. Not food, not cash, not assistance," he added.

Around 20 residents of Sitio San Roque were arrested after they refused to go home and insisted on demanding food supplies from the local government even after an hour of negotiation with authorities.

Those held by authorities are reportedly place under the custody of the city's Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit for filing of appropriate complaints.

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Eufemia Cullamat said it is the responsibility of the government to feed low-income families who are forced to stay in their homes due to the lockdown.

"Wag nang pahirapan pa ng lokal at pambansang pamahalaan ang naghihikahos nang mamamayan. Hindi lang ito inhustisya, kundi pagiging hindi na makatao," she said.

"Nananawagan ako sa mga pulis at kay Mayor [Joy] Belmonte na pumagitna na sa usaping ito, bigyan ng kinakailangang ayuda ang mga tao ng Sitio San Roque, at pakawalan agad ang lahat ng kanilang hinuli," she added.

The Gabriela Women's Party, meanwhile, said the use of excessive force and detention will not quell the hunger experienced by poor Filipinos.

"Paano mananahimik at hindi kikilos ang mga mamamayang ilang araw nang kumakalam ang tiyan? Kagyat na tulong ang kailangan nila at hindi kulong," the party-list, representative by Arlene Brosas, said.

"Unlike those who have buffers and savings, the people of Sitio San Roque have nothing to scrape in the bottom. They are largely informal sector workers who survive on meager incomes from day to day and who are not covered by social protection measures," it added.

ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro, on the other hand, said the national government should already fast-track the delivery of the emergency subsidy program and other socio-economic measures set to address the COVID-19 health situation.

"It has been three weeks since the Duterte administration implemented the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine. Many communities like San Roque have yet to receive food packs and other social amelioration measures from the government which prompted them to protest and demand for their rights," she said.

"Napakabagal na nga kumilos ng administrasyong Duterte sa mga pangunahing pangangailangan ng mamamayan para mabuhay sa gitna ng Enhanced Community Quarantine, dinadahas pa at inaaresto ang mga nanawagan para sa agad nang maibigay ang ayuda ng gobyerno dahil nagugutom na ang kanilang mga komunidad," she added. 

An earlier report on Super Radyo dzBB, personnel from the Quezon City Police District said they tried to convince the residents to return home in keeping with the social distancing policy, but those who picketed did not budge.

In another report, the QCPD police said they would try to ask concerned authorities not to file charges against those who are being held. —Erwin Colcol/LBG GMA News

LOADING CONTENT