By CESAR JOLITO III
Several transport leaders lodged a counter complaint against key officers of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) following the dismissal of criminal charges filed against them, who were arrested during a protest rally against the government’s Public Transportation Modernization Program (PTMP) last year.
National Union of People’s Lawyers counsel Rey Gorgonio said they filed a case before the Office of the Ombudsman against BCPO director, Police Colonel Joeresty Coronica and Lt. Colonel Joery Puerto for alleged violations of Republic Act 7438, which protects the rights of persons under custodial investigation, and Article 131 of the Revised Penal Code, or the “prohibition, interruption and dissolution of peaceful assembly.”
The complaint stems from a September 18, 2024, incident where transport groups staged a rally against PTMP in front of a hotel in Bacolod City where a transport summit was being conducted.
Organizers alleged that police officers used water cannons and arrested several protest leaders without properly informing them of the charges.
Among those apprehended were Eric Bendoy, Rodolfo Gardoce, Jr. and Rudy Cathedral of the United Negros Drivers and Operators Center (UNDOC) and the Bacolod Alliance of Commuters, Operators and Drivers Inc., along with Lilian Sembrano of Kabacod Negros Transport Coalition, and other members.
They were charged with resistance and disobedience to persons in authority under Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code, but the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 4 dismissed the cases on Tuesday, October 21, citing lack of sufficient evidence.
Bendoy, one of the arrested leaders, welcomed the court’s ruling and the filing of the countercase.
“We are very thankful to UNDOC-Piston Negros for proving the illegal arrest of police to our transport leaders. We stand on what is right and are only fighting for our livelihoods,” Bendoy said, urging the police to respect their constitutional rights.
On September 20, major transport groups in Bacolod, joined by progressive organizations, staged a protest action at the Bacolod City Government Center Replica to commemorate the first anniversary of what they described as the “unjust arrest” of local transport leaders and the “water cannon incident” a year ago.
Judalyn Pacheco, treasurer of Kabacod Negros Transport Organization, recalled the events of September 18, 2024, when they rallied in front of the L’Fisher Hotel on Lacson Street, where the Visayas Public Transport Modernization Program Summit was being held.
Authorities used a water cannon to disperse them.
“I was in front of the protest, and they bombed us with water cannons, but I never retreated because I know we have the right,” Pacheco said.
“It is nasty and painful to recall what they did to us a year ago,” she added, insisting that their group continues to seek justice.
Sembrano further criticized PTMP, claiming that it is a source of corruption and that funds are being misused by several government agencies, corporations and cooperatives.
They called on the government to protect the livelihoods of its citizens and to fight corruption in PTMP.
The groups earlier demanded justice for the “transport summit victims,” accountability and the dismissal of the cases against them./CJ, WDJ