Raps eyed vs Taguig politician’s supporters

MANILA, Philippines — Police are eyeing criminal charges against the supporters of a Taguig City politician who staged a rally last Thursday to protest his loss in the midterm polls and caused a traffic jam.

Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director, said yesterday they want to hold accountable the organizers of the rally, wherein about 1,500 supporters of outgoing Taguig 1st District Rep. Arnel Cerafica blocked C-5 Road for several hours, snarling traffic along the major thoroughfare.

Eleazar said among the cases they intend to file today, at the earliest, are violation of Article 146 of the Revised Penal Code for illegal assembly and Batas Pambansa 880 or the Public Assembly Act.

Aside from the leaders, also included are the owners of vehicles such as motorcycles that were used to block the road.

Eleazar criticized the demonstrators, saying what they did was mob rule after they disrupted the flow of traffic for several hours Thursday night.

“What they did was unacceptable,” he said in Filipino in an interview over dzBB.

Eleazar pointed out that the protesters did not secure a permit from the local government, making their activity illegal.

Police wanted to disperse the rally but the ground commanders relented after seeing that violence could erupt.

To prevent another incident from happening, Eleazar ordered the Taguig police to immediately disperse similar mass actions.