Palace hopes students won’t skip classes to join rally

February 8, 2018

Malacanang urged on Thursday students not to skip classes to join a youth and students' walkout later this month.

Militant groups are set to hold a nationwide youth and students' walkout on February 23 to condemn some policies of the Duterte administration.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Duterte administration is not stopping the public to exercise their right to express their grievances.

"(O)ur position on the right of peaceful assembly and street protest has not wavered. Public displays of constructive criticism including youth participation in protest are allowed as part of full exercise of the citizens’ right to express their grievances," he said.

Roque, however, said, "we...hope students will not skip or cut classes in use street protest as an excuse to neglect their studies. Authorities as a matter of SOP will observe maximum tolerance and respect the protesters’ right to peaceful assembly."

Roque,  a former law professor, used to hold classes on the streets when they were not given permit to protest.

"I did not encourage them (students) to skip class. What we did was we held class in the streets. That was not skipping class. That’s how we were able to come up with the doctrine in Cadiz versus City Mayor of Manila. According to the government then in power, there will be no rallies allowed in Mendiola because there is a clear and present danger. So I said, 'Class, we will now have a classroom session in Mendiola. Best dress up on your best Sunday clothes so that we will not be classified as clear and present danger by the government'," he explained.

"So they all went in their best party clothes and we rallied. We were, of course, sued by the government. But we went to court, arguing that we filed a rally permit. It was not granted; it was unconstitutional because it can only be denied on the basis of clear and present danger," he added. Celerina Monte/DMS