AFP bid to re-arrest security guard is attempt to save face, 'racket' - Karapatan

From InterAksyon (Sep 20): AFP bid to re-arrest security guard is attempt to save face, 'racket' - Karapatan

A human rights organization on Friday slammed the Armed Forces of the Philippines for seeking the re-arrest of a security guard the military claimed was a ranking communist rebel but who the Court of Appeals ordered released after ruling him a victim of “mistaken identity.”

Rolly Panesa was arrested in Cubao, Quezon City October 5 last year and was identified by the military as “Benjamin Mendoza,” the 61-year old alleged head of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Southern Tagalog.

He was also severely tortured following his arrest, according to Karapatan, which released photos of Panesa showing his badly battered face and other injuries.

On August 17, the CA, ruling on a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by Panesa’s partner, said there was no way the security guard, who is in his 40s, could be Mendoza and ordered him released.

The appellate court also said the evidence presented by the military actually helped demolish its claims against Panesa and also slammed the police of presenting fake witnesses.

Even after the decision, the military tried to stall Panesa's release and continued to insist he was "Mendoza."

But before the court ruling, AFP chief of staff General Emanuel Bautista had handed out a P5.6-million reward for the arrest of “Mendoza.”

The military has refused to explain what happens to the bounty with the CA ruling and Karapatan has mocked the reward system as an "organized racket."

In a statement Friday, Karapatan said the AFP had filed a motion for reconsideration before the CA seeking its permission to arrest Panesa once again.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, in a statement, called the military’s move a “desperate face-saving attempt to justify the illegal arrest, torture and detention of Panesa, and to keep the P5.6 million-loot they obtained.”

She urged the CA to uphold its decision and called on the AFP to “stop these desperate machinations against Panesa” and, instead, “answer the criminal charges of torture and illegal detention filed by Panesa at the Department of Justice.”

Interviewed by InterAksyon.com after regaining his freedom, Panesa said there are other people who, like him, have ended up in jail because they have been wrongully tagged as rebels by authorities.

Among these, he said, is a woman named "Evelyn" who is supposed to be the wife of "Mendoza," the rebel leader Panesa was supposed to be.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/71139/afp-bid-to-re-arrest-security-guard-is-attempt-to-save-face-racket---karapatan