Bayan condemns arrest of QC residents appealing for assistance

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Wednesday condemned the arrest of residents of Sitio San Roque in Quezon City after they reportedly formed a barricade as they appealed for government assistance amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency.

"Bakit kailangan arestuhin ang mga nagugutom at humihingi ng pagkain? Masasagot ba ng pandarahas ang kalam ng sikmura nila? Sila ba ay hahayaan na lang nating tahimik na mamatay sa gutom?" Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes said in a statement.

Police arrested 20 persons who were allegedly members of Samahan ng Magkakapitbahay when they refused to go home and insisted on demanding food supplies from the local government even after an hour of negotiation with authorities, according to a police report.

The police report states they are in the custody of the city's Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit for filing of appropriate complaints.

"Nasaan ang P200 billion na nakalaan para sa economic assistance? At bakit police action ang unang sagot sa mga hinaing ng mga nagugutom? Ano ang tindig ng Mayor, ng IATF, at iba pang ahensya? Bakit dahas ang sinasagot sa mga nagugutom?" Reyes said.

The Bayan official said the protest action was "spontaneous" and was not joined by urban poor group Kadamay.

"It was a local organization," he said in a separate message to GMA News Online. "Gutom lang talaga."

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte earlier said the local government will distribute 400,000 food packs per week during the Luzon enhanced community quarantine.

The mayor had said each food pack will be good for a family of five in all of the city's 142 barangays.

The city's health department has recorded 151 COVID-19 cases. Twenty-seven patients have died, and 11 have recovered.—AOL, GMA News