The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) on Tuesday announced that charges have already been filed against the members of transport group Samahang Manibela Mananakay at nagka-Isang Terminal ng Transportasyon (MANIBELA) for their disrupting the transport flow during their recent two-day transport strike in Quezon City last week.
MANIBELA, led by Mar Valbuena, organized a protest rally on 15 to 16 April 2024, opposing the government's PUV phase-out program.
MANIBELA mobilized more or less 70 public utility jeepneys (PUVs) and approximately 600 participants who obstructed major thoroughfares such as Commonwealth Avenue, East Avenue, and Quezon Avenue, causing public inconvenience and disturbance.
Despite multiple attempts by the QCPD to engage in a dialogue, the group's leaders, including Valbuena, refused to cooperate and ignored directives to relocate their protest to a freedom park.
Moreover, the transport group failed to secure a permit from the Quezon City government, violating the law for organizing a public assembly.
The identified plate numbers of PUJs that obstructed the main thoroughfares during the protest have been promptly turned over to the Land Transportation, Franchising, and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for appropriate administrative actions.
In response, the QCPD filed charges against the transport group were three counts of Violation of B. P. 880 (Public Assembly Act of 1985), Violation of Article 155 of the Revised Penal Code (Alarm and Scandal), Violation of Article 151 of the RPC (Resistance and Disobedience), and Direct Assault Upon an Agent of Person in Authority.
Among those who were charged were Mario Valbuena, Regie Manlapig, Jasmine Denition, Pacifico Martin Jr., and several unnamed individuals involved in driving PUJs during the protest.
