By KIMBERLIE QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — Another leader of the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) is poised to face a court battle against the Cordillera region’s top cop, Brigadier General R’Win Pagkalinawan, for a cyberlibel case.

CPA Secretary-General Sarah Dekdeken, a native of Mountain Province, appeared in court with her legal counsel on March 12 to voluntarily submit herself and post bail. CPA said the step would allow her to continue working while facing the case.

Pagkalinawan sued Dekdeken for cyberlibel for allegedly blaming him for dismantling the Anti-Chico Dams Struggle Heroes’ Monument in Bugnay village, Tinglayan, Kalinga province. He claimed that Dekdeken’s statement stained his reputation as regional police chief.

CPA maintained that Dekdeken’s statement about Pagkalinawan’s involvement in the dismantling of the said structure came from the community. The group also cited a Bugnay village resolution pointing to the police as culprits.

“We believe this is another judicial harassment against [CPA leaders]. The police repeatedly targeted our organization and leaders for disinformation, smear campaigns, and terrorist tagging,” the CPA statement said.

The cyberlibel case against Dekdeken is the latest legal action by the police against CPA leaders and other government critics since last year. Aside from the charges, the Police Regional Office Cordillera (PROCOR) pushed for local governments to declare the CPA and its allies as persona non grata, and recently proposed conducting “Tokhang” operations against leftist individuals.

Shoot-to-kill for CPA chair

In January, CPA Chairperson Windel Bolinget submitted himself to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for his protection. This came after Pagkalinawan issued a “shoot-to-kill” order against him if he resisted arrest. The Cordillera police also put a P100,000 ($2,080) bounty for the capture of Bolinget.

Kapalong town police in Davao del Norte implicated him, along with ten others, in the murder of Garito Tiklonay Malibato, a Lumad activist, on March 21, 2018.

CPA and other groups condemned the order. The Commission on Human Rights also expressed concern over the directive, noting that law enforcers should adhere to the rule of law and uphold the presumption of innocence of accused individuals.

The Cordillera police chief withdrew the order following the suspension of the arrest warrant, pending the reinvestigation of the case.

In a Philippine Star report, Pagkalinawan explained his order was a last resort. He said further that it was “a standard PNP operational procedure for operatives and arresting officers when engaging uncooperative suspects or subjects resisting arrest.” The report quoted PNP Spokesperson Police Brig. Gen. Ildebrando Usana saying the “PNP does not have a shoot-to-kill policy.” It further noted that “shoot-to-kill” orders are not in the PNP’s procedural handbook.

Local leaders targeted

In November last year, the court also dropped the charges against CPA Mountain Province leader John Lipato. The police implicated him in the killing of Salvador Liked, a barangay council member and anti-corruption advocate. Lipato was the subject of red-tagging and unwanted visits by the police before the filing of the murder case.

Just last month, Innabuyog-Gabriela Regional Council member Betty Belen walked free from jail after the court dismissed the case filed by Kalinga police for illegal possession of explosives. The charge stemmed from an early morning search operation conducted by military and police personnel on several houses in Uma village, Lubuagan, Kalinga, on October 25. The police allegedly found rifle grenades on the premises of Belen’s residence.

Like Lipato, Belen was repeatedly tagged by the police and military as a supporter of the New People’s Army (NPA) before being charged in court.

Persona non grata & tokhang tactics

Meanwhile, a PROCOR memorandum dated February 9, citing “Verbal Instruction of the Regional Director” directed its lower units to “encourage your respective LGUs to pass a resolution declaring the CPA and other left-leaning organizations” as persona non grata (unwanted).

Listed in the document were 26 organizations, including CPA and party-lists Bayan Muna and Gabriela Women’s Party. Most were grouped into four sectors: labor, women, youth, and government. Bayan Muna and CPA affiliates Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) and Tongtongan ti Umili (CPA Metro Baguio) were listed under the government sector.

An earlier order, dated January 27, from the Mountain Province Police Provincial Office also contained the same instruction for the compliance of municipal police chiefs, also noting “verbal instruction” from the PROCOR chief.

In an undated resolution, the Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (RLECC) also endorsed ‘Tokhang’ operations against “left-leaning personalities” in the region. Pagkalinawan, who also chairs the RLECC, said they already identified 300 subjects for the operation in an interview with Bombo Radyo Baguio, and set its completion within March.

Amid the concerted effort of PROCOR against the CPA, the group said they “will not waver under such attacks and will forge on with the same tenacity and determination to defend truth and human rights.” # nordis.net