A petition seeking for the repeal of Provincial Ordinance No. 5 is expected to be submitted to the Provincial Board within a month after several sectors declared it as unconstitutional and an invalid exercise of police power.
Provincial Ordinance No. 5 which requires certain groups to have permits before going to the mountains in conducting medical missions and similar activities was revisited by a cross-section of the society in a forum sponsored by the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines inside the Silliman campus along with the Salonga Law Center on Tuesday.
The National Union of Peoples Lawyers represented by Atty. Alfonzo Sinco, vice president for the Visayas, said the group is part of such efforts in declaring Provincial Ordinance No. 5 as unconstitutional, an invalid exercise of police power, a violation of the rights of individuals and groups to travel and a prior restraint on the exercise of the freedom of expression.
The NUPL representative had also quoted Dr. Everett Mendoza of the Silliman University Divinity School of Silliman University as saying Provincial Ordinance No. 5 violates the freedom of religion. Mendoza said it seeks to curtail or hinder the evangelical work of religious groups like going to medical missions and other humanitarian activities in the hinterlands.
According to Mendoza asking permits and be inspected by the police or the military before an outreach mission is conducted are hindrances to the exercise of religion.
Sinco recalled that in 2009, the Provincial Board had a commitment to suspend the implementation of Provincial Ordinance No. 5 and to refer the same to concerned committees. Apparently, it was not suspended. In fact, the same ordinance was used as basis in filing two cases against three human rights workers in Sta. Catalina, prompting them to review their position on the issue.
According to the NUPL lawyer, the petition is a collective effort of different NGOs, POs, civil societies as well as the priests and pastors of the IFI and UCCP. This was also confirmed by Fr. Roberto Caday of the IFI, who considers the ordinance as repressive.
In exercising its police power, government should not also deprive the rights of others, Fr. Caday stressed. (PNA/JFP/Juancho Gallarde)