DOJ summons Bayan leader over violence during protests
The Department of Justice (DOJ) summoned activist and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) president Renato Reyes Jr. to reply to accusations of sedition, inciting to sedition and violations of the cybercrime law stemming from violence that occurred during an anticorruption protest last Sept. 21.
The cases, filed by Lt. Col. Jonathan Estrada of the Philippine National Police, were supposed to have undergone preliminary investigation on Friday, but Reyes said his lawyers only received the charge sheet on Thursday.
The DOJ panel instead ordered Reyes to submit his counter affidavit along with other supporting documents on Jan. 26.
Reyes expressed confidence that Estrada’s charges, which he described as “harassment” suits, will fail, adding his camp will have a “vigorous defense against these baseless PNP claims.”
“The allegations against me are patently false, and the claims of sedition are entirely manufactured,” Reyes said in a statement.
“These charges rest solely on the fact that I attended the Sept. 21 protest and am a publicly known activist,” he also said.
Reyes said the complaint claimed that he “incited defiance and confrontation with law enforcers” during the clashes in Mendiola.
Dozens injured
But he said he was only one of several individuals, including 40 policemen, who were injured when unidentified masked men wearing black shirts attempted to push past antiriot police guarding the road leading to Malacañang Palace.
They hurled rocks and burned the wheels of a trailer truck that was used to block the way to Ayala Bridge.
The authorities also claimed to have arrested 20 of the “protesters,” but the police have not released information about the arrests since September.
“It is well-documented that I was injured after the Bayan protest in Mendiola had already concluded and when the commotion had begun,” he noted.
Furthermore, he said this case intends to cause a chilling effect on government critics.
