AFP hit for using ‘fall guys’ in catching reds

From the Daily Tribune (May 11): AFP hit for using ‘fall guys’ in catching reds

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate yesterday hit the systematic effort of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) of using “fall guys” in running after the supposed leaders of the underground communist movement.

Zarate cited the May 2, 2014 abduction and illegal detention of activist Romeo “Ging” Rivera, a member of the anti-mining Tampakan Panalipdan (Protect Tampakan), a group that has been vigorously opposing the presence of the proposed open-pit mining site of Xstrata’s Sagittarius Mines Inc. in Tampakan, South Cotabato.

Last May 2, Rivera’s family reported that he was forcibly taken by armed men from their residence in Koronadal, South Cotabato.

However, the military subsequently presented and claimed him as one Felix Armodia, an alleged ranking NPA leader operating in the areas of South Cotabato, Sarangani and Davao del Sur, who was allegedly “arrested” during a military operation in Tampakan, South Cotabato.

“This ‘fall guy’ trick used by the AFP is highly condemnable. This was used during the 2006 enforced disappearance of Jonas Burgos, who was also abducted by military operatives in a mall in Quezon City. This is also the same pattern used with the illegal arrest of security guard Rolly Panesa,” Zarate said.

In October 2012, Panesa, an innocent security guard, was arrested and presented by the AFP as one Benjamin Mendoza, a supposed ranking CPP leader with a P5.6 million reward on his head.

However, on Aug. 27, 2013, the Court of Appeals ordered Panesa’s release following a habeas corpus petition filed by his family.

“Ironically, despite the court’s ruling that Panesa is not Mendoza, the already claimed and paid bounty is yet to be returned by the AFP,” Zarate said.

“This is an old condemnable trick of the security forces: arresting innocent civilians and conveniently presenting them as leaders of the underground movement,” Zarate said.

“First, they will vilify critics of the regime and even ordinary citizens as leaders of the CPP-NPA-NDF, and then they will be subjected to surveillance, harassment, illegal arrests or even ‘neutralization’ by being victims of enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings,” the solon said.

“Congress must investigate this and craft possible law that will put an end to this despicable practice,” he stressed.....

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/afp-hit-for-using-fall-guys-in-catching-reds