“It is only right and just for Ka Ronnie to press for counter-charges against the military. These trumped-up charges against him had cost him so much, and their community has long suffered in fear for the numerous cases of harassment by State security forces.”
Thus said rights group KARAPATAN, as they welcomed the dismissal by the City Prosecutor of the City of San Jose Del Monte (CSJDM), Bulacan of complaints against Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) secretary general Ronnie Manalo, seven months after the military and police raided his home and charged him with violations of the anti-terror law and illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
“The decision of the city prosecutor saying that they found ‘no prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction’ shows that most of these anti-terror law charges filed against activists are trumped-up, and the pieces of evidence fabricated,” said KARAPATAN Secretary General Cristina Palabay.
KARAPATAN said the counter-charges should make accountable the military, police and the NTF-ELCAC for the damage and distress they had caused Manalo’s family and community.
On June 18, 2024, elements of the 80th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (80th IBPA) and the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) barged into and ransacked Manalo’s house in Barangay San Roque, CSJDM. They allegedly found weapons and subversive materials.
Ka Ronnie’s wife, Marcelina, who bore the brunt of the threats and harassment by the military and the NTF-ELCAC, suffered and died from a heart attack, while filing a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights, after the raid in their home.
The incident in June 2024 cascaded into a prolonged campaign of terror in at least six sitios in Barangay San Roque, Barangay Paradise 3, and Barangay Tungkong Mangga affecting at least 400 families. The series of threats, harassment, and forced surrenders perpetrated by the 80th IB hampered the villagers’ ability to attend to their lvelihoods . The soldiers committed at least 20 counts of human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), including the military’s illegal occupation of the Tungkong Mangga barangay hall, where villagers who were summoned were interrogated.
“It is imperative to render justice to Ka Ronnie, his family and community in San Jose del Monte, even as we continue to call for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC,” said Palabay. #