Citom eyes ban on Colon rallies

Citom, the city’s traffic arm, is proposing to the city council to come up with an ordinance banning any public rallies in Colon and identity of an alternative site where these gatherings can be held without disturbing the flow of traffic.

The proposal made by Citom chairman Valeriano "Bobit" Avila, was immediately met with criticism from militant groups, the sector most likely to be affected by the proposal. Colon, particularly at the junction of Osmeña Boulevard, has become the favorite site rallies by militants and being a bottleneck, such rallies often cause major traffic jams. Because of the tendency of these rallies to create traffic jams, Avila wants the city council to adopt a measures effectively banning rallies in Colon and finding an alternative site where these can be held.

Avila said Citom has been receiving numerous complaints about the traffic jams caused by rallies in Colon. The common gripe is why militant groups insist on holding their rallies in the area when hardly anyone other than members of their own groups ever listen to what is said in the rallies. But Dennis Abarientos, secretary general of the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights in Central Visaya, immediately branded the Avila proposal as "elitist, fascist and repressive."

"Rallies and collective protests are the highest forms of the political exercise of men’s democratic rights. Suppress it and you attack the very foundation of a democracy," Abarientos said.

"Kining pag-declare sa Colon as off-limits to rallies morag ilang gikoral ang among katungod. They are limiting our rights by setting parameters," Abarientos said.

At least one councilor, Sylvan Jakosalem, partly agrees with Abarientos, saying that identifying a venue for rallies is a restriction on the right to freedom of assembly.

Jakosalem is a former chairman of the broadcast industry watchdog Kapisanan ng mga brodkaster sa Pilipinas Cebu chapter. — Freeman News Service