On July 4, 2019, veteran journalist and Davao Today
columnist Margarita Valle filed criminal charges of kidnapping and serious
illegal detention, arbitrary detention, violations under the Anti-Torture Act
and violation of Miranda Rights against officers of the police and the military
who illegally arrested and detained her for more than 10 hours.
On July 4, 2019, veteran journalist and Davao Today
columnist Margarita Valle filed criminal charges of kidnapping and serious
illegal detention, arbitrary detention, violations under the Anti-Torture Act
and violation of Miranda Rights against officers of the police and the military
who illegally arrested and detained her for more than 10 hours. Administrative
charges of gross misconduct, grave abuse of authority, and conduct unbecoming
of a public official were also lodged against officers of the Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group Region 9, 102nd Brigade, 1st Infantry
Division of the Philippine Army.
The PNP has initially released a statement apologizing for
Valle’s arrest, calling it a case of “mistaken identity.”
“Karapatan supports journalist and development worker
Margarita Valle in seeking accountability for her ordeal. This should remind
the police and the military that they are not above the law, and that their
words and justifications are not stamped with finality but can be questioned
and challenged. Never did we believe that this was a case of mistaken identity.
Valle was not only a journalist, but a development worker and an activist who
has struggled alongside groups and communities now red-tagged by the
government. What transpired in June 9 was a targeted and deliberate attack,”
said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay.
Palabay likewise strongly insisted that this was a case of
harassment and intimidation. “Valle’s son is a known spokesperson of the Save
our Schools network, an alliance which has continuously exposed attacks on
indigenous schools in Mindanao. This is not a coincidence, but a message of
orchestrated intimidation,” she added.
Maragarita Valle, 61, was arrested by a team of CIDG
operatives, among other law enforcement agents, while at the Laguindingan
Airport in Misamis Oriental last June 9, 2019. She was kept incommunicado at
Camp Abelon in Pagadian City. When she was finally surfaced by her captors
hours later, the PNP then reasoned that they mistook her for Elsa Rento, the
person named in the warrant they used to justify Valle’s arrest.
Lawyers from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers assisted
Valle in the filing of said charges at the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for
the Military and Other Law Enforcement Officers (MOLEO).
“The forceful manner of Valle’s arrest, her being kept
incommunicado, and the PNP’s string of lies about this being a case of mistaken
identity, are all indicative of the ruthlessness of state forces and their
brazen neglect for people’s rights during arrests, especially under martial
law. The public clamor that ensued after news of Valle’s arrest forced the
police and the military to yield,” Palabay emphasized.