Mga naarestong rioters, may planong sunugin ang Malakanyang- Sec. Remulla

SINABI ni Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla na nakatanggap sila ng ulat na plano ng mga rioters na sunugin ang Malakanyang bago pa man ang gulo sa isinagawang anti-corruption protest rally nito lamang Linggo.

Ang rebelasyon na ito ay kasunod ng pagkaka-aresto sa mga nanggulong indibiduwal na nagdulot ng kaguluhan sa paanan ng Ayala bridge at Mendiola area, sa gitna ng protesta na nananawagan na papanagutin ang mga sangkot sa maanomalyang flood-control projects sa bansa.

“The first children in conflict with the law interviewed said that they had intended to burn the Palace. They had intended to burn the Palace; however, we cannot take that at face value because these were children in conflict with the law and we still needed the DSWD to process them,” ang snabi ng Kalihim sa press briefing sa Malakanyang.

Nagbabala naman ito na ang mga adult o nasa hustong gulang na mapatutunayang sangkot ay mahaharap sa iba’t ibang parusa.

“There is arson, there are grave physical injuries and we can go as far as sedition—iyong statement lang nila na ‘We intend to burn the Palace. Gusto naming sunugin iyong Palasyo,’ is a seditious act in itself,” ang sinabi pa rin ni Remulla.

Sa kabilang dako, tinanong din si Remulla kung may intelligence reports ukol sa “local terror groups” na may planong isabotahe ang protesta, kung saan ang sagot ng Kalihim ay “Yes, that is why all contingencies were considered, our biggest fear that did not happen was that someone would incite violence during the People Power Monument rally, because the intent of the people there was peaceful. The intent of the people there was to hear their grievances; the President encouraged them to go and heeded their message.”

“The threat of the terrorist was more of a bomb that would go off in Luneta or in the People Power Monument. But with the vigilance of our PNP to look at the situation, we had 400 policemen on the ground dressed in plain clothes to see what was going on and to assess and the vigilance paid off a little bit that transpired,” anito pa rin. (Daris Jose)