Abducted Filipino jail warden faces rebel court

From the Mindanao Examiner BlogSpot site (Dec 26): Abducted Filipino jail warden faces rebel court

A Filipino jail warden being held by communist rebels is currently being investigated for alleged corruption and human rights abuses in southern Philippines, a spokesman for the New People’s Army said on Friday.

Aris Francisco said Jose Mervin Coquilla, the provincial jail warden of Compostela Valley, is being held by rebels after he was captured on December 23 in Panabo City.

“Coquilla was taken into custody by the NPA in order to subject him to an investigation to determine his individual culpability with respect to the complaints lodged against him before the People's Democratic Government by jail inmates and their families,” Francisco said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.

He said Coquilla is being accused of “wilful” negligence in the supervision of inmates and his “direct and indirect, overt and covert participation of drug trade and drug use inside the Compostela Valley jail.”

Francisco said according to the complaints received by the NPA, the warden has allegedly siphoned off funds which are already slashed by high officials of the ruling state prison and that Coquilla’s corruption has resulted in the inadequate medical and health care and food provision for inmates.

“To exercise absolute and fascist control, Coquilla’s guards allegedly perpetrate physical abuse to their prisoners. Coquilla has also purportedly maintained double standards and discriminatory practices. He supposedly imposes strict and inhumane regulations for visiting families who are forced to talk to their loved ones while behind bars. But he allegedly turns a blind eye to inmates who were caught using illegal drugs, and to jail guards who were involved in ferreting drugs inside the prison cells,” Francisco further said.

He said Coquilla’s acts also perpetuate the anguish of political prisoners, who have suffered for so long from the unjust judicial system that has criminalized their revolutionary acts and sacrifice.

The investigation on Coquilla would prove whether all the accusations against him are true or not. “Coquilla is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and as such, is being treated leniently and humanely by the NPA custodial force, for as long as guerrilla conditions warrant,” he said.

“The NPA’s arrest of Coquilla should not be made a justification for any retaliatory acts against political prisoners. This is not withstanding the fact that the complainants are regular prisoners themselves, thus demonstrating Coquilla’s sheer unpopularity in his turf. Coquilla’s custodial detention is governed by the rules of the NPA and is under the authority of the People’s Democratic Government.  We assure his family that he is being treated well by the NPA and the revolutionary mass base,” Francisco added.

There was no immediate statement from prison or military and police and even provincial government officials about Coquilla’s capture by the NPA, which has been fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country.

Francisco’s statement coincided with the release of two soldiers - Pvts. Marnel Cinches and Jerrel Yurong – who were held as prisoners of war by the NPA. The soldiers were freed in Bukidnon province in northern Mindanao, but the communist rebels are still holding three more policemen PO3 Democrito Polvorosa, PO1 Marichel Contemplo and PO1 Junrie in the restive region.

The soldiers were freed ahead of the possible resumption of peace talks with Manila next year.

The NPA earlier released two other prisoners - Pfc. Alvin Ricarte and Cpl. Benjamin Samano –to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who helped negotiate for their freedom in Compostela Valley province. The two soldiers were taken captive during a rebel raid at a banana plantation owned by Sumitomo Fruits Corporation earlier in December in Davao del Norte’s New Corella town.

Government peace talks with the NPA collapsed in 2004 after rebels accused then President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on several agreements, among them the release of all political prisoners in the country and the removal of the terrorist tag on the Communist Party of the Philippines and its political wing, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, and the NPA.

Manila also suspended the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees after the peace talks failed.

http://www.mindanaoexaminer.net/2014/12/abducted-filipino-jail-warden-faces.html