Pahayag ni KOJC legal counsel Torreon sa pagdinig ng Senado | GMA Integrated News - video Dailymotion

GMA Integrated News

Nagbigay ng pahayag si KOJC legal counsel Atty. Israelito Torreon sa pagdinig ng Senado tungkol sa operasyon ng PNP sa KOJC compound.   Video: Senate of the Philippines livestream/ YouTube

Transcript

00:00Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

00:04In behalf of the KOJC, your honors, as well as the JMC, we would like to express our heartfelt

00:12thanks for conducting this Senate hearing this afternoon.

00:17This really comes as a gift to us, especially in the light of the fact that we have been

00:24under attack.

00:26We would like to begin by quoting People v. Arrota, your honor, where the Supreme Court

00:32said that it is simply not allowed in a free society to enforce a law, or to violate a

00:40law rather, to enforce another, especially if the law violated is the Constitution itself.

00:49What we are seeing here actually, your honor, is the rape of the 1987 Constitution in the

00:57guise of the enforcement of a warrant of arrest.

01:02We feel, your honor, deeply that while we may concede that there is indeed a warrant

01:09of arrest, the validity of which is still under question before the Court of Appeals,

01:16we feel that the same should not be used as a license to violate fundamental rights

01:24of citizens, of third persons, not included in the warrant of arrest.

01:30In this case, your honor, from the get-go, when General Torre allegedly served the warrant

01:37of arrest, we already informed him that the warrant he was bringing was only one, that

01:43of a person in the name of Silvia Simones, with an address in Pasig City.

01:49We felt that if he was given that information, he would adjust and look for other copies

01:58of the warrant.

01:59We know that we may be served with other copies of the warrant, but until now, there is no

02:04service.

02:05The warrant of arrest was used to destroy the rights of individuals, tear gases were

02:12used, and despite the clear evidence to the contrary, PNP denies this.

02:19Freedom of religion, where the cathedral itself has been denied usage to the members.

02:26The warrant of arrest has likewise been used as a license to conduct random as well as

02:33omnibus search to all the properties in the KOJC compound.

02:41It has likewise been used as a license to turn the property into a police garrison where

02:48members cannot anymore freely use the school, as well as the cathedral, as well as numerous

02:58rooms located therein.

03:01So therefore, your honor, we thank you for this opportunity, for giving us a breather.

03:08We are hoping and praying earnestly to Allah subhana wa ta'ala that after this hearing,

03:13your honor, the police or the PNP leadership would realize that indeed they may be serving

03:22a warrant of arrest, but in the service of such warrant of arrest, they should bear in

03:29mind the fundamental rights likewise of third persons not actually mentioned in the said

03:37warrant of arrest.

03:39Your honors, the violations here and the evidences are overwhelming, and we hope, your honor,

03:50that this can be corrected soonest and fast.

03:56We have actually presented, your honor, a blow-by-blow accounts of what transpired from

04:02August 24 until today, your honor, where even the temporary protection order which was lawfully

04:12issued by the regional trial court on the third day, this was reasonably violated.

04:20The temporary protection order was a clear order, your honor, which provided supposed

04:27judicial relief to third persons who are not affected by the warrant of arrest.

04:35The temporary protection order was directed against the restrictions and control being

04:42employed by the PNP, which led to grave violations to the constitutional right of third persons

04:49to their right to life, liberty, property, and even security.

04:54And that is why they were ordered right away to cease and desist from performing any act

05:02or omission that violates the petitioner's rights to life, liberty, or property.

05:09And they were ordered to remove any blockade or barrier that may hinder the petitioner's

05:15rights to life, liberty, or property.

05:18But what happened after that, your honor, was that the cathedral was likewise barred

05:26and cordoned, and no member can anymore pray therein.

05:32The JMC school was likewise cordoned, and no student can likewise use the same.

05:40Even the hangar was controlled by the policemen, and even the lawns and gardens cannot anymore

05:48be used by the members, despite and in spite of the effectivity of the temporary protection

05:55order.

05:56We see, therefore, your honor, here a wanton violation by the police, despite the fact

06:04that they took an oath to serve and protect.

06:08And we pray, your honor, that we will be given the chance to show a blow-by-blow account

06:14of the various and wanton violations made by the police against the constitutional rights

06:22of the members of KOJC and Davaueños in general, your honor.

Pahayag ni KOJC legal counsel Torreon sa pagdinig ng Senado | GMA Integrated News

Category

Transcript

Recommended