TV5 news anchor Ed Lingao reacted to the violent dispersal of the October 19 rally in front of the US embassy, wherein several protesters were ran over by a police van.
Lingao said that if protesters start to fight off the cops, it is in the latter’s procedure to arrest those protesters, not run them over.
“Kung lumalaban o pumapalag ang mga rallyista, ang trabaho ng pulis ay mag react sa paraan na nararapat, at ayon sa kanilang procedures. Rule of law nga diba? Kung may dapat hulihin, e di hulihin. Pero wala sa batas na dapat sagasaan ang kahit sinong nasa harap o nasa likod ng mobile. Kung mahanap nyo yan sa manual, papalakpakan ko kayo,” Lingao said.
He also hit those who labeled him a “yellowtard” or a biased journalist for posting the video of the incident.
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“Marami pa ring nagpipilit gawing politika ito, para lang malagyan ng kulay at makahirit. Sa hindi ko pa rin maintindihang dahilan, tinawag akong yellowtard, biased, at bayaran dahil sa pagshare ng video. Iyan naman talaga ang problema ngayon – mga taong natutong magsulat, pero hindi naman natutong magbasa; natutong humirit, pero hindi natutong makinig; natutong magbigay ng opinyon bago natutong magisip,” Lingao added.
For those who commented on his Facebook page, he said that given that it is his page, he has the right to respond to them and express his thoughts, too.
“Meron ding ilan na hihirit ng alanganin sa wall ko, tapos magrereklamo kung sumagot ako, na parang ako pa ang sumusupil sa karapatan nilang maghayag. Wall ko nga, gusto ninyo na hindi ako pwede magsalita, at kayo lang ang pwedeng magpahayag?” he said.
Addressing those who are asking for the full coverage of the rally, Lingao said that if there happened to be a coverage of the entire protest, it would last for more than an hour. He also said that there was likely no footage of the rally from start to finish, adding that those who asked were likely inexperienced when it comes to covering rallies.
Before he concluded his post, Lingao said that whoever violated the law deserves to be punished according to the law.
“Hindi managasa, dahil wala yun sa batas. Kaya nga law enforcement ang tawag eh, hindi frat rambol na dapat ikaw ang makalamang,” Lingao said.
He added that the police were not even sure that those protesters ran over by the police vehicle were the same people who hurt the cop driving the van, who turned out to be PO3 Franklin Kho.
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