From ABS-CBN (Dec 27): Mothers of alleged NPA members write to Pope
Mothers of two University of the Philippines students suspected of being New People's Army rebels have written a letter to Pope Francis to intercede for their sons.
In a statement, Marita Cadanao and Rowena Salonga, mothers of the two UP students, said their sons, Guiller Martin Cadana and Gerald Salonga, are both 23 and new graduates of the UP extension program in Pampanga when they volunteered as researchers and organizers of the Kabataan party-list as "a way of giving back to the people."
Guiller and Gerald were gathering data regarding the displacement of farmers caused by government projects in Caranglan, Nueva Ecija, when they were abducted by the military from the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in August 9, 2014.
"They were subjected to mental torture for more than ten (10) hours before they were turned over to the police in the morning of August 10, 2014. They were subjected to warrantless arrest and were accused of being members of the New People's Army (NPA)," the mothers stated in their letter.
"They are now languishing in jail in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija, waiting for justice. The truth is, our children were abducted to instill fear and set as an example to the people that whoever will fight for equality and justice will suffer the same fate," the mothers added.
Karapatan said the two students are among 491 political prisoners under the Aquino administration.
Pope Francis is visiting the Philippines from January 15 to 19.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/12/27/14/mothers-alleged-npa-members-write-pope
Kabataan party-list political party is a Communist Party of the Philippines political front. KARAPATAN is a CPP human rights front. My guess is that the two "students" were on an exposure tour with the NPA when they were picked during a raid on the home of known member of the New People's Army (NPA), the military wing of the CPP.
ReplyDeleteOver the years, a number of college/university students have been killed or captured during Philippine military encounters with the NPA. These students were either members of known CPP front organizations being escorted by the NPA or had become full-fledged members of the NPA.