Appeal for Action: Cagayan Valley leaders, activists falsely charged with kidnapping and homicide

Dear Friends,

Pease join us in our call to stop the criminalization of human rights work, a tactic that the BS Aquino regime has repeatedly used against activists and leaders of progressive people’s organizations.

The same tyrannical act the BS Aquino regime used in Mindanao, among leaders of people’s organizations in Davao City and General Santos City, is now used against the 69 leaders and activists in the Cagayan Valley region in an attempt to suppress the people’s voice against the rising cases of military abuses in the region.

Dear Friends,

Pease join us in our call to stop the criminalization of human rights work, a tactic that the BS Aquino regime has repeatedly used against activists and leaders of progressive people’s organizations.

The same tyrannical act the BS Aquino regime used in Mindanao, among leaders of people’s organizations in Davao City and General Santos City, is now used against the 69 leaders and activists in the Cagayan Valley region in an attempt to suppress the people’s voice against the rising cases of military abuses in the region.

The filing of trumped-up criminal charges was used during Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya through the Inter-agency Legal Action Group (IALAG). Years since the IALAG was abolished, the practice continues under Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan. Aquino is using the same legal offensive against those who expose the abuses of State security forces.

Charges vs activists and leaders of people’s organizations

In July 2015, 29 individuals, mostly from the Aggay and Malaweg tribes, were charged with three counts of kidnapping with homicide merely based on the suspicion that they are members/supporters of the New People’s Army. Sgt. Arsenio Villar Capili of the 17th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) accused the 29 of kidnapping and killing two army intelligence agents and a member of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) on February 25, 2015.

Three of the 29 individuals were abducted on July 20, 2015 by elements of the 17th IB-PA. Marlon Baganay, Mendo Bisiotan and Lando Daryuin were surfaced three days later, on July 23, at a military camp in Lasam, Cagayan Valley. The 70-year old Daryuin is partially blind. Currently, they are detained at the Cagayan Provincial Jail.

On September 21, Romella Liquigan, regional coordinator of Karapatan-Cagayan Valley, reported that when they filed the counter-affidavits of seven of the 29 persons charged at the Tuguegarao prosecutor’s office, they learned that 40 more individuals were falsely charged in the same case. Liquigan was among them.

Aside from Liquigan, included in the 40 individuals who were charged of the same crime were: Isabelo Adviento, chairperson of Kagimungan peasant organization and Anakpawis partylist nominee; Femie Galapon, chairperson of National Union of Students in the Philippine-Cagayan Valley and convenor of Rise for Education alliance; Randy Malayao, convenor of Bayan Cagayan Valley and Makabayan vice president for Luzon; and, Agnes Mesina, regional coordinator of Save the Valley network and the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.

A number of the accused are unknown to the leaders of people’s organizations, while some were participants in the two fact-finding missions held in the town of Rizal in Zinundangan Valley. Elements of the 17th IB-PA under the 5th Infantry Division have been conducting military operations in the communities since February 2015.

The operations resulted in abuses and human rights violations such as extrajudicial killing, torture, abduction and illegal detention, illegal searches, encampment in barangay halls, health centers and civilian houses. The indigenous groups of Aggay, Malaweg, and Kalinga are among the most affected by the military operations.

Prior to the filing of charges against the leaders and activists in Cagayan Valley, participants of the the two fact-finding missions conducted in Rizal town already experienced military harassment as they were blocked by members of the Cagayan Provincial Public Safety Company, 3rd Manuever Platoon. The men took pictures of the vehicles used by the mission participants.

Abducted member of Aggay tribe

On October 1, Mennong Danao (earlier reported as Lenor Danao), an Aggay, was abducted by about 25 elements of the 17th IB-PA in the presence of his family. The soldiers brought Danao with them, after they illegally searched his hut. A few minutes later, the soldiers claimed they found a rifle outside Danao’s hut.

Danao was found on October 3, in the custody of the Philippine National Police-Rizal, Cagayan after he was turned over by the military. He now faces charges for violation of RA 10591 or illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.