The Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) on Tuesday urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the presence of four minors who were among those arrested in Tarlac on June 9.
In a press conference, Western Visayas RTF-ELCAC prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales urged the CHR to look into who brought the minors to Concepcion.
“Dapat maimbestigahan kung anong ginagawa nila doon. At ‘yung dapat managot niyan, CHR, is ‘yung talagang nag imbita sa kanila doon na halata namang pang gugulo ‘yung puno’t dulo nitong ginawa niyong pagkilos,” he said.
(Their presence there should be investigated and those that invited them should be held liable. It’s obvious that they aimed to make trouble.)
PRO3 Regional Director Police Brigadier Matthew Baccay said 91 people were initially arrested. However, they released several foreigners and four minors.
“So do not only focus on, you know, the allegations against our police. But we should also look into the best interests nung mga bata… Alam ba nung mga magulang na hinila niyo ‘yung mga anak nila doon?” Gonzales said.
(So do not only focus on, you know, the allegations against our police. But we should also look into the best interest of the kids. Do their parents know that their children were brought there?)
Further, Gonzales said the CHR should look into the supposed group that organized the assembly.
“Dahil ‘yung naapektuhan nito ‘yung mga farmers, ‘yung mga miyembro ng Tinang Multipurpose Cooperative,” he said.
(Because the farmers, the members of the Tinang Multipurpose Cooperative, were affected.)
“Sila din po ay mga marginalized at sila rin ay nawalan ng mga pananim na tubo dahil sa ginawa nitong mga nahuli ng ating kapulisan… mga biktima din po sila,” he added.
(They are also marginalized and they also lost their crops because of those arrested… they are also victims.)
Meanwhile, NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lorraine Badoy, who is facing multiple raps for linking several groups and personalities to the armed communist movement, claimed that a member of Karapatan was behind the incident.
“The CHR, if they’re very serious and sincere about getting to the bottom of this should investigate that, they should investigate our allegation that behind this is Pia Montalban of Karapatan that is a front of the CPP-NPA-NDF and who brought these children there,” she said.
Badoy repeated her claim that the Supreme Court had previously said that there was no such thing as red-tagging, a remark that the CHR has denounced.
‘You resisted’
Meanwhile, Baccay denied allegations of physical and mental abuse and inhumane conditions at the detention facility.
The CHR said it was investigating the case and had started gathering information from those arrested, farmers who filed a complaint, and Philippine National Police Office personnel.
Baccay alleged that the arrested farmers “resisted” and that they were the ones who were harming cops.
“You resisted. But again still ang PNP natin they did their best not to harm anyone and we have physical, I mean video clips of the actual arrest that will prove na it was even you who were harming our police on that day,” he said.
In response to allegations of inhumane conditions, he said the farmers were brought to a jail facility and not a hotel.
He said the detention facility can only hold 10 individuals.
“Next is itong bad conditions daw sa ating jail, ano, sa ating jail facility in Concepcion. Well, to be blunt about it, nakalimutan niyo ang pinagdalhan sa inyo, kulungan, hindi hotel,” he said.
(Next is the bad conditions of our jail, our jail facility in Concepcion. Well, to be blunt about it, you forget that you were brought to jail, not a hotel.)
Further, he said there was no delay in the release of the farmers after they posted bail. He said individuals arrested on Friday were usually released by Monday.
“But please look at the records. Nag overtime po ang mga pulis natin. They were released on a Sunday. So ito pa lang allegation is nakakatuwa na. Delay in the release when they were released on a Sunday,” he said.
(But please look at the records. Our police put in overtime. They were released on a Sunday. So this allegation is already funny.)
“We did the best effort para hindi kayo ma-delay in the release even after you’ve already posted bail. Remember, there are 82 respondents. Hindi po in one click of a finger mare-release na po natin sila. We have to process them,” he added.
He said there would be a formal preliminary investigation on Friday at the prosecutor’s office in Tarlac. — DVM, GMA News
Repost from GMA News.
