THE Manila City Prosecutors Office yesterday ordered the release of two student activist arrested by the police last Tuesday in a lightning rally at the US Embassy protesting the presence of American troops in the country.
The order, signed by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor John Erick Flordeliza, directed the Manila police to release John Gabriel Magtibay and Joanne Pagkaliwangan.
The two were among six persons apprehended by the police after dispersing the rally and charged for violating Batas Pambansa 881 and vandalism.
Under BP 880, activities like rallies need permits unless held at designated freedom parks.
“In view of the foregoing, the immediate release of John Gabriel Magtibay and Joanne Pagkaliwangan is ordered and directed, unless they are being detained for some other lawful cause/s or grounds,” the release order stated.
The prosecutors’ office said the protest rally lasted only for 10 minutes and the participants had been dispersed from the venue when the police ran after them.
A video of the incident showed “respondents were not seen kicking or parrying the hands of the arresting officers. In addition, complainants did not submit any evidence that they sustained injuries when they apprehended the respondents,” the prosecutors office said.
It added the police also failed to show photos or videos that Magtibay and Pagkaliwangan threw paint or took part in smearing or painting the emblem of the US embassy.
But the prosecutors office recommended that the charges be referred for further investigation.
A report by the Manila police said the arrested activists were part of a group that suddenly appeared in front of the embassy on Roxas Boulevard early last Tuesday.
“They intentionally threw paint at the sign and logo of the US Embassy,” part of the police report said.
Magtibay is a film student of the UP College of Mass Communications and the current chairperson of political party Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP) and former vice chairperson of the CMC college council while Pagkaliwangan is a student of Far Eastern University.
