InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines -- A man was arrested by the Office of the Sergeant –At-Arm (OSAA) for disrupting the proceedings of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato C. Corona Tuesday afternoon.
Roger Pacete, a security officer of the Senate, identified the suspect as Dennis Ilagan, who claimed to be the president of Samahan ng San Diego, Lian, Batangas Inc.
While the impeachment trial was on break, Ilagan sneaked inside the session hall and tried to hand Senator Ralph Recto a copy of a manifesto of his group on the large-scale land grabbing in his municipality.
“Patawad po. Hindi na namin matiis ang pangangamkam ng lupain sa aming lugar. Ako po ang nilapitan ng mga magsasaka sa Lian, Batangas dahil kinukuha ng pamilya Moreno at pamilya Jimenez ang kanlang lupa (I apologize. We cannot stand the land-grabbing in our area. I was approached by farmers of Lian, Batangas because the families Moreno and Jimenez are taking away their land),” Ilagan told OSAA investigator.
Pacete said that under the Rules of the Impeachment Court, Ilagan should be charged with disruption of the impeachment proceedings and may face the penalty of six months’ imprisonment.
However, Pacete said that as Ilagan did not totally disrupt the proceedings, and was not noticed by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, he will simply be sent home.
