Human rights groups condemned the police for filing a violation of Batas Pambansa (BP) 880 or the Public Assembly Act of 1985 against Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment spokesperson Jonila Castro, who must consequently face the Pasig City Prosecutor’s Office on September 25.

Castro was charged after leading a protest on September 4 in front of the building of the Discaya family’s St. Gerrard Construction, one of the contractors involved in corruption-ridden flood control projects. They hurled mud at the company’s logo and gate to symbolize their outrage.

Besides St. Gerrard, the Discaya family controls eight other construction companies. A Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) research revealed that the nine companies clinched 421 infrastructure projects worth ₱31 billion.

Castro said the case against her exposes who the police truly protect. “Not the people who justly expose the truth and demand justice, but thieves like the Discayas. This exposes the Marcos Jr administration’s injustice against the people,” Castro added.

Castro firmly asserts that people have the right to complain, demand accountability, and protest, especially amid blatant corruption. “The mud we hurl and smear on the gate of the Discayas and at the faces of plunderers and the corrupt is not enough compared to the mud and poverty people drown in every day,” she said.

Karapatan condemned the police’s renewed weaponization of BP 880, a law the Marcos dictatorship used to suppress the right to protest. The group has long called for this law’s repeal.

“Instead of prosecuting ordinary citizens expressing justified anger against corruption, the government should first hold accountable those who stole billions in public funds and those who continue to profit from anomalous projects,” Karapatan deputy secretary general Atty. Maria Sol Taule said.

The complaint aims nothing but to criminalize protesting. She said that protesting is “a fundamental right of a people long robbed, harmed, and exploited.”