DOJ forms special investigation team to probe labor activist's death

MANILA — Labor and peasant groups on Wednesday denounced the series of arrests of activist leaders in Pampanga and Tarlac, and a recent raid in Laguna, which allegedly resulted in the recovery of guns, ammunitions and grenades, as the country observes the Holy Week.

The arrests were also made as the government imposed a stricter coronavirus lockdown in the capital region and its neighboring provinces amid the alarming rise in COVID-19 infections.

Labor and peasant groups hold press conference on the killing of labor leader Dandy Miguel in Laguna on Sunday, the arrests of 3 more activists in Central Luzon and raid on Alyansa ng Manggagawa sa Engklabo (AMEN) office in Sta. Rosa, Laguna on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/0FbBpzs2wZ

— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) March 31, 2021

Police arrested Joseph Canlas, national vice chairperson of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and chair of Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL), after the supposed recovery of a grenade, a gun and ammunition in Pampanga last Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Police said they arrested Joseph Canlas, natl vice chair of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and chair of Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon, after supposedly recovering a grenade, a gun and ammunition in Pampanga on Tuesday. Witnesses dispute this. pic.twitter.com/Qu7lRlHVQu

— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) March 31, 2021

An hour later, it was Pol Viuya’s turn to be arrested in Tarlac. Viuya is the vice chairperson for Central Luzon and national council member of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU). The same types of evidence were allegedly recovered by authorities — a gun, grenade and ammunitions, based on police reports.

Police, on Tuesday, also arrested Pol Viuya, the vice chairperson for Central Luzon and national council member of Kilusang Mayo Uno, in Tarlac. A gun, grenade and ammunitions were allegedly recovered from him.

Another activist, May Arcilla, was also arrested. pic.twitter.com/pM3nFCnL6U

— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) March 31, 2021

A paralegal, May Arcilla, of Karapatan Central Luzon, was also arrested for supposed obstruction of justice after she questioned the service of search warrant.

Arcilla was released Wednesday for further investigation, while Canlas and Viuya are undergoing preliminary investigation while in detention because they are facing non-bailable charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

• With greater scrutiny on service of warrants, activists fear rise in vigilante-style killings

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WITNESSES DISPUTE POLICE NARRATIVE

Witnesses who were present during the arrests of the activists disputed the police’s version of the events.

Lito Lumapaz, public relations officer of AMGL, who owns the house where Canlas was staying, said the latter was not in the house at the time of the search.

He added that they were not allowed to take videos of the search, and were surprised that police recovered a gun, grenade and ammunitions supposedly belonging to Canlas.

“Mariin naming kinokondena na puro kasinungalingan ang kanilang sinasabi kung bakit nagkaroon ng bala, baril at granada samantalang, itong taong si Joseph Canlas, ang pagkakakilala ko rito, ay tumutulong sa mga magsasakang mahihirap upang ipunyagi, labanan ang mga tiwaling gawain ng mga panginoong maylupa para nang sa ganun ang mga magsasaka ay mabigyan ng katarungan sa kanilang problema,” Lumapaz said in an online press conference, denying allegations that Canlas is part of the New People’s Army.

(We strongly condemn the lies and the reasons why guns and ammunitions were present there. I know Joseph Canlas personally and he help poor farmers by upholding their rights against corrupt landlords. In this way, he tries to give them justice.)

KMP chaiperson Danilo Ramos claimed the police planted evidence on Canlas.

“Sa ginawa kay Joseph Canlas, literal na itinanim ang granada na natagpuan daw sa paso ng halaman. Eksperto na sa pagtatanim ng ebidensya ang PNP (Philippine National Police), pero wala nang naniniwala sa kanila,” he said.

(They literally planted grenades to frame Canlas, which were found in plant pots. The PNP is an expert in planting evidence, but nobody believes them anymore.)

“We have seen this modus many times before. The PNP is always employing its blunt tactic of tanim ebidensya — planting fabricated evidence like guns, ammunition, grenade, and alleged subversive documents. This was the same tactic used in the illegal arrest and detention of hundreds of activists who were incarcerated by the Duterte administration,” he added.

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Canlas’ lawyer, Jobert Pahilga of SENTRA, said they will question his arrest.

“Ang problema ng CIDG is how they can prove that the grenade is of Ka-Joseph or kay Ka-Joseph yun, kasi hindi naman nakuha sa possession niya. Kasi kahit nakita doon sa paso, hindi naman hawak ni Ka-Joseph ang paso at ang granada,” Pahilga said.

(The problem of CIDG now is to prove that the grenade belongs to Joseph, because it was not found in his possession. He was not holdin the pot and the grenade.)

“Illegal possession of firearms or explosives ay dapat hawak-hawak mo or nasa dominion mo, nasa kontrol mo itong nakuha sa’yo, to be charged with illegal possession of firearms,” he added, noting that police have often resorted to “planting” grenades to make the charge non-bailable.

(For one to be accused of illegal possession of firearms or explosive, the suspect should be holding it or those should be in one's dominion or control.)

The search warrant against Canlas was issued by Judge Ma. Angelica Paras-Quiambao, Executive Judge of the Angeles City Regional Trial Court, according to KMP.

Pahilga said they also intend to question the issuance of a search warrant against Viuya by Judge Jeovannie Ordoño of Capas, Tarlac Regional Trial Court Branch 109, and are securing the records of the application for the warrant.

Viuya is expected to submit his counter-affidavit on Monday.

“Ito talaga yung alam natin na ginagawa ng estado, ng AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) at [NTF-ELCAC] na kung saan lahat ng mga kritiko laban sa kaniya ay ipapaaresto niya hanggang sa pinaka-maximum na patayin, ano,” Viuya said in a recorded video message.

“Nasa tamang direksyon tayo 'no na ipaglaban ang ating karapatan, lalo na sa panahong ito,” he added.

(This is what the state, the AFP, and the NTF-ELCAC is doing -- arresting all who criticize the government or killing them.)

RAID IN LAGUNA

Meanwhile, police also raided on Tuesday the old office of Alyansa ng Manggagawa sa Engklabo (AMEN) in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, which its members said they had not been using for more than a year.

Police were supposedly looking for Marites David, a labor organizer, who was not present when they conducted the search.

Police said they recovered several high-powered rifles, short firearms, ammunitions and landmine explosives aside from a laptop and several “subversive” documents and protest paraphernalia.

They intend to file illegal possession of firearms and explosives against David.

But Bayan Southern Tagalog spokesperson Casey Cruz rejected the allegations.

“Parang Arsonry ang ginawa doon sa opisina e…Wala talagang pumupunta doon na manggagawa. Walang tao, pinasok ang opisina. So there are chances na the PNP has the capacity to plant evidence. Sobrang high powered guns po niyan. Tapos nakita mo pa, Uzi. Tapos may mga land mines silang sinasabi na na recovered dun sa office,” she said.

(The office was turned to an arsonry. Nobody goes there, so there are chances that the PNP entered it and planted pieces of evidence while nobody was present. They supposedly found high-powered guns, land mines in the office.)

KMP said the search warrant was issued by Tanauan RTC Branch 66 Judge Charito Macalintal-Sawali.

‘HULI WEEK’

The recent spate of arrests and raids came a few days after the killing by still unidentified assailants of labor leader Dandy Miguel in Laguna on Sunday night, and a little over 3 weeks since Bloody Sunday when 9 activists were killed in simultaneous police operations in Cavite, Batangas and Rizal.

• Labor leader shot dead in Laguna
• ‘Weaponized’ search warrants in ‘Bloody Sunday’ killings put pressure on Supreme Court to act to prevent bloodshed

“Tatawagin ng PNP na ‘huli week’ itong nangyayari dahil napakarami nilang nahuhuli, napakarami nilang tinatanim na ebidensya, napakarami nilang pinapatay,” said Charm Maranan, spokesperson of DEFEND-Southern Tagalog.

(PNP will call this as 'huli week' because a lot have been arrested and a lot of our people were victims of planted evidence. They also killed so many people.)

Aside from the arrests and raids on Tuesday, the Bloody Sunday and Miguel’s killing, the following activists were also arrested in the past few days in different parts of the country, according to former Anakpawis Party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao:

• March 21 arrest of Karapatan Caraga human rights worker Renalyn Tejero in Cagayan de Oro
• March 25 arrest of Anakpawis Cagayan Chairperson Calixto Cabildo in Amulung town, Cagayan
• March 26 arrest of Kadamay urban poor leader Conception Opalla in Pandi, Bulacan

But a big brunt of the arrests and killings took place in the Southern Tagalog region.

“Sa kasalukuyan, maraming mga aktibista at mga myembro ng progresibong grupo sa Timog-Katagalugan ang natatakot, may mga pangamba, may mga agam-agam, paano kung kami naman na ang susunod?,” Maranan of DEFEND-Southern Tagalog asked.

(At present, there are a lot of activists or members of progressive groups in Southern Tagalog who are already scared and worried. They are thinking that they will be next.)

“Kung may mangyari man po sa mga aktibista, sa mga progresibo, sa mga miyembro ng mga iba’t ibang organisasyon na nakikibaka, alam na po natin kung sino ang dapat sisishin. Alam na natin kung sino ang may motibo at kagagawan para patayin at gawan ng gawa-gawang kaso ang mga aktibista na tulad namin,” she said.

(If something happens to them, to these activists, we know who to blame, we know who has the motive to kill them and create trumped-up charges.)

‘WARRANT FACTORIES’

Activists are raising concerns anew over so-called warrant factories and weaponizing of judicial orders, which they said happened on Bloody Sunday.

In response to the public uproar, the Supreme Court said it will issue new guidelines requiring law enforcers to use body cameras during enforcement of warrants.

• Supreme Court urged to mandate use of body cameras when serving warrants
• Bloody Sunday aftermath: SC ‘considers’ requiring body cameras in service of warrants
• CJ Peralta urged: Revise rules on search warrants; stop killings, red-tagging, abuses

Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Ferdinand Gaite said Congress has allotted a P334 million budget for the purchase of body cameras but said the Philippine National Police is delaying its purchase.

Even the use of body cameras, however, may not be sufficient for activists.

Pahilga said that based on previous cases, police would usually barge into the house or office that is subject of the search and make occupants leave or lie face down, giving the police the opportunity to allegedly “plant" evidence before conducting actual search.

Since body cameras are from the point of view of the police, he said it might not be that effective to prevent future abuses.

Instead, there should be more changes to protocols on the enforcement of warrants aside from requiring body cameras, said Pahilga.

Rules should also be stringent in the application and issuance of warrants, he added.

DOJ's RESPONSE

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra had said the Bloody Sunday killings will be investigated by the AO 35 task force on extrajudicial killings.

• Task force on EJKs to probe 'Bloody Sunday' killings of activists
• DOJ says to endorse 'Bloody Sunday' massacre probe to panel on summary killings

Guevarra on Wednesday announced the task force will include Miguel’s killing in their probe.

“Although the motive for his killing may not be clear as at this time, considering that Miguel was an active trade union leader and that the method of attack showed a deliberate intent to kill, the AO 35 technical working group has recommended the creation of a special investigating team under the aegis of the AO 35 committee to conduct a more thorough probe of the incident and establish the identity of the perpetrators,” he said.

The special invegating team, according to the justice chief, will be led by a DOJ prosecutor for case build-up, with the help of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Commission on Human Rights, “if necessary.”

Guevarra earlier said the AO 35 will first have to determine if Miguel’s death was labor-related, a statement which activists said was “insulting.”

• With greater scrutiny on service of warrants, activists fear rise in vigilante-style killings

AO 35 has yet to release an inventory of cases, and updates on its probe into the killings of peace consultant Randall Echanis and rights advocate Zara Alvarez.

RESPONSIBILITY ON COURTS, PROSECUTORS

Activists also scored the absence of any condemnation from the Labor department and other government officials.

“The government is composed of many institutions created by the 1987 Constitution that mandates the Bill of Rights for the people. But we are only hearing a few that categorically opposes the wanton disregard for human rights and attacks against the legal and democratic people's movement. The silence of others is approval of the violations of the Constitution and people's basic rights,” Casilao said.

Bayan spokesperson Teddy Casiño said the courts and prosecutors have a big role to play in the issuance of search and arrest warrants in alleged trumped-up charges against activists.

He cited the arrest warrant issued against 75-yr-old KARAPATAN chair Elisa Lubi by a Davao court for attempted murder allegedly over her involvement in an armed encounter between the NPA and Philippine Army in Davao City in May 2018.

https://twitter.com/mikenavallo/status/1377108720971223042?s=20

Casiño said Lubi has lived in Metro Manila for decades and is suffering from hypertension and arthritis, and could not have been engaged in a firefight with soldiers in Mindanao.

Prosecutors filed the case and the court issued a warrant without Lubi’s knowledge, he claimed.

“Malinaw na ginagamit ng PNP at ng AFP at ng National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) ang ating justice system para sa kanilang karumal-dumal na mga gawain. Hindi po magagawa ng kapulisan 'yan kung hindi nag-issue ang korte ng search warrant o arrest warrant based on very flimsy grounds,” he said.

(It is clear that the PNP, AFP, NTF-ELCAC are using our justice system to do their heinous tasks. The police cannot do it if the court did not issue a search or arrest warrants.)

Casiño called on the Duterte administration to stop the crackdown on activists, rights defenders and critics of the government.

Gaite called on the President himself to recall his “kill, kill, kill” policy, which he said in a speech on March 5, 2 days before Bloody Sunday.

• Duterte 'kill, kill, kill' order vs rebels is 'legal', says spokesman

The Philippine National Police had said that the operations that killed 9 activists in Calabarzon were legitimate.

PNP spokesperson Ildebrandi Usana denied that the March 7 operations were related to President Rodrigo Duterte's order for the police and military to "kill" communist rebels and "ignore human rights."

• Targets in Calabarzon crackdown 'involved in some kind of terror operation': PNP

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said early this month that impunity has no place in the Duterte administration.

"Mananagot ang sinuman na lumabag sa batas at mapaparusahan sa ilalim ng ating batas,” Roque said after the United Nations Human Rights Council condemned the Bloody Sunday event, saying it was “appalled” by the killing of activists amid the government's red-tagging of human rights advocates or accusing them of fronting for the armed wing of the communist party.

(Anyone who violated the law would be held accountable and punished under our laws.)

• READ: Philippines tells int'l orgs: Give us chance to probe activist killings