CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 13 January) – Renowned local artist and activist Nicolas Aca was briefly detained by the police for staging a solo performance against the “National Rally for Peace” held by Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) members at the Divisoria here noon on Monday.
Artist Nicolas Aca in a solo performance in the sidelines of the Iglesia ni Cristo’s “National Rally for Peace” before he was arrested by policemen in Cagayan de Oro CIty. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO | More photos of the Cagayan de Oro rally
Clad in chains and dirty black clothes, Aca was protesting how religion affects the political landscape in the country when the policemen arrested him.
Aca, who chairs the city government’s historical commission and who have performed all over Asia, was detained by four policemen in front of the Divisoria fruit stand section, a block away from the amphitheater where thousands of INC members conducted their rally.
“The four policemen held my shoulders to stop my performance and when I asked them what law I violated, they could not give me a clear answer,” Aca said, adding that they released him after 15 minutes.
Aca is known here for his politically sensitive one-man shows, especially during big crowd events in Cagayan de Oro.
Carlos Isagani Zarate, former Bayan Muna partylist representative and human rights lawyer, said that Aca’s brief arrest was a clear violation of the Bill of Rights.
“Aca was just expressing himself. The Constitution protects him for that as well as it protects the rights of the INC members for expressing themselves during the rally,” he said.
Zarate said the fact that Aca was not disturbing the peace gave the policemen no right to detain him.
Thousands of INC members from five districts were brought by buses, vans and private vehicles from Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Note and Bukidnon.
They started arriving in Cagayan de Oro on Sunday, according to Ian Fuentes, the city’s public information officer.
Fuentes said the INC applied for a permit to hold the rally from the amphitheater to Magsaysay Park fronting Xavier University.
He said the INC members started to arrive at the rally venue around 6 a.m. and dispersed around 5 p.m.
Mobile phone services were temporarily suspended in the entire city while the local government implemented road closures and routing schemes to avoid heavy traffic buildup along the amphitheater and the Magsaysay Park in Divisoria.
The INC members were supposed to position themselves in six sections of the Divisoria, but five of the huge TV screens placed in strategic areas malfunctioned by 9 a.m. Monday. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
See related story in Davao City here.
