As the five paralegals arrested in the LEC Investment Forum protests were released on bail yesterday, human rights alliance KARAPATAN hit back at Palace press officer Claire Castro and Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. over their remarks on the protest during the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) Investment Forum, saying that the Marcos Jr. government should stop lecturing protesters on “reason,” “intelligence,” and “lawful means” while ignoring substantive criticisms and violently suppressing dissent.
“There are already so many intelligent and substantive analyses about the LEC and Pax Silica. Did you or the President listen, Sec. Castro? You have all the time in the world to listen to the people demanding for their rights,” said KARAPATAN Secretary General Cristina Palabay.
Castro had urged those opposing Pax Silica to course their objections through “proper channels,” saying that “proper protest uses reason and intelligence.” PNP Chief General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., meanwhile, said that the right to protest must remain “within the bounds of the law” and urged cause-oriented groups to raise their concerns through “lawful means.”
“Lawful means? It is the State that carries out unlawful and arbitrary arrests through Marcosian laws such as Batas Pambansa 880. Whose interests are you protecting, that of the people or that of big business who will benefit from the Pax Silica?” Palabay said.
The group also slammed the invocation of “maximum tolerance” by the police. “It is now the maximum tolerance to disperse, threaten and arrest, including paralegals?” asked Palabay.
KARAPATAN stressed that the people’s opposition to Pax Silica and the LEC is rooted in reason and in legitimate concerns over the country’s resources, communities, environment, sovereignty and people’s rights.
KARAPATAN said the Marcos Jr. government has repeatedly dismissed the criticisms and protests on Pax Silica, including concerns over environmental destruction, displacement, the limited and short-term employment promised to affected communities, and the broader implications of placing Philippine land, minerals, energy, infrastructure and workforce at the disposal of foreign capital.
“The Marcos Jr. government cannot claim to be listening to the people while it simply shrugs off dissenting views against these projects, and even misrepresents their scope. You cannot call people unintelligent simply because they reject your version of ‘development,’” Palabay said.
She added that Castro’s remarks do not diminish the fundamental issue: the Marcos Jr. government is pushing policies that further open Philippine resources and the economy to US and foreign interests.
“The right to protest is not conditional on whether the government approves of what people are saying. People have the right to dissent, to oppose government policies, to expose their consequences and to demand accountability. People’s rights do not become suspended whenever the President is courting foreign investors,” Palabay said.