In a 14-page order, Presiding Judge Boomsri S. Rodolfo said the protesters did not violate the law in their attempt to get food at the start of the lockdowns imposed nationwide. They were within their rights to protest and could not have resisted arrest, it added.
The law on public assemblies only punishes organizers who fail to secure permits to hold a rally, the court said. The lawyers of the 21 residents of San Roque in Quezon City said justice had been served. “The dismissal of the motley of trumped-up charges against the residents seeking aid in the midst of a lockdown is a triumph we share with the many others who helped and empathized,” The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers said in a statement.
The government had banned mass gatherings and required physical distancing to contain the pandemic that has killed more than 6 million people worldwide.
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