Post-mortem on Oakwood 2 set for Monday

The Makati City government is set to meet on Monday the organizers of the failed "Oakwood, II" rally and the police to do a "post-mortem" of the incident that ended in a violent dispersal.

The meeting will be held at the 21st floor of the Makati City Hall at around 11 a.m., an advisory from the city government noted.

"Something obviously went wrong last Wednesday," Lito Anzures, spokesperson of Mayor Jejomar Binay, told reporters.

Anzures said the mayor wants the "organizers-on-record," particularly the leaders of Kilusan Para sa Makatarungang Lipunan at Goberyno (KMLG), such as lawyer Estelita Cordero, to explain why the protest march turned into a vigil on the portion of Ayala Avenue, fronting the Oakwood Premier Luxury Apartments.

The ritzy hotel was site of the failed July 27 mutiny.

The vigil, however, was short-lived as police dispersed the protesters from the urban poor after the extension of the rally permit’s 5 p.m. deadline expired.

Anzures added that the police, led by Makati City police chief, Senior Superintendent Jovito Gutierrez, would also be required to explain why they decided to disperse the crowd, comprised mainly of the urban poor, using tear gas and water cannon.

Anzures said the business community was definitely irked by the last incident that hit the country’s financial district.

"They told us in clear terms that these rallies have been disrupting businesses, not to mention the alarm they (rallies) cause. But we sound like a broken record already. We cannot stop the rallies," Anzures said. – Nikko Dizon