Karapatan calls for release of 13 suspected rebels arrested by AFP-PNP

From InterAksyon (Mar 30): Karapatan calls for release of 13 suspected rebels arrested by AFP-PNP

Thirteen suspected rebels, including a "peace consultant" of the National Democratic Front (NDF), were arrested last March 4 by combined intelligence agents of the police and military and currently detained at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

In a statement, the human rights advocacy group Karapatan demanded the immediate release of those arrested, saying the government's move was "illegal and smacks of foul play and dirty tricks."

Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, disclosed that the suspects were arrested from simultaneous raids carried out on three houses in Quezon City and Caloocan City.

She identified the arrested NDF peace consultant as Ruben Saluta "who reported that he had in his actual physical possession, exhibited and invoked his Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) Document with Identification No. ND978240 under the assumed name of Lirio Magtibay.
Also arrested was Saluta's wife Presentacion "whom he was visiting."

The others were Alexander Raymund Birondo and his wife Winona, Ruben Rupido and Joseph Cuevas, all renting the house in Quezon City.

Those arrested in Caloocan City were Osias Abad, Emmanuel Bacarra, Rosalia Reboltar-Bacarra, Roy Baldostamo, Manolito Estrella, Emmanuel Villamor, and Monette Alcantara, all independent sublessors and sublessees.

According to Palabay, the police and military operatives allegedly claimed they had search warrants issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 78 for illegal guns.

"When they did not find any of those fictitious items listed on the warrant, the members of the raiding team 'planted' guns and explosives and labeled them 'evidence'. All three houses were searched and the raiding teams hauled away their belongings," said Palabay.

The arresting teams also "invited", a euphemism for arrest, the 13 residents of the three houses. To justify the baseless and bungled operation, the police later filed false charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives against the 13 arrested, including Saluta, added Palabay.

"It was the testimony, a ridiculous tall story, of a certain Roger Reyes Rodriguez that supposedly linked together the three separate households," said Palabay.

Rodriguez claimed he met Saluta in Antique province through his uncle. Saluta supposedly recruited him as gun for hire in Manila.

"Rodriquez went to Manila, contacted Saluta who gave him a gun he didn't like. Saluta brought him to the house where the Bacarras were staying and offered him another gun, which Rodriguez again refused. Saluta then brought him to the third house where Osias Abad resided and offered another gun that Rodriguez finally liked," related Palabay, citing Rodriguez's incredulous sworn affidavit, which became the dubious basis of the search warrants improperly issued for the Quezon City and Caloocan houses. 

"All 13 are now at a cramped holding area at the Major Crimes Investigation Unit (MCIU) and the Anti-Organized Crime Unit of the CIDG in Camp Crame. The nine men are currently in a 3 X 4 meter cell, along with four other prisoners. The four women are locked up in a similarly-sized cell, which on some days they share with other prisoners [as well]. Many of those arrested are in their 60's and suffering from various serious ailments," Palabay said.

Karapatan disclosed that, as of December 2014, there were 700 documented victims of illegal arrest and detention under the Aquino administration, among them 15 NDF consultants.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/107959/karapatan-calls-for-release-of-13-suspected-rebels-arrested-by-afp-pnp