Davao journalist eyes administrative, criminal raps over ‘mistaken identity’ arrest
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2019 07:00:34 +0000
A journalist will file administrative and criminal charges against police after she was arrested at an airport in Cagayan de Oro in a case of “mistaken identity.”
Davao Today columnist Margarita Valle was arrested by officers of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Region 9 at the Laguindingan Airport on Sunday for a warrant issued against an Elsa Renton with an alias of Tina Maglaya and Fidelina Margarita Valle, an alleged communist party member, on charges of arson and multiple murder with quadruple frustrated murder and damage to government property.
Valle said that she was arrested by plain-clothes officers, was not read her rights, was not given counsel, and was held incommunicado or had no communication for more than 8 hours.
“Mula doon sa airport na nag-demand talaga ako ng counsel, hindi sila nakikinig hanggang doon sa pinakadulo na,,” Valle said in a press conference on Wednesday.
(I demanded for a counsel but no one listened from the airport until the end.)
Kathy Panguban of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) Head for Women and Children’s Committee, said Valle’s basic human rights were violated. NUPL will act as one of the counsels for Valle.
“So we are definitely looking at the possibility of filing arbitrary detention charges laban dito sa PNP (Philippine National Police) CIDG. Lahat ng elemento ng krimen na ito ay present doon sa naging karanasan ni Margarita (against the PNP CIDG. All the elements of this crime are present in the experience of Margarita),” Panguban said.
“We are looking at the possibility of filing criminal and administrative charges para mabigyang-leksyon itong mga kapulisan natin na hindi pupwede yung basta-basta na lang silang maghahari-harian dito (to teach the police a lesson that they cannot just pose as kings), yung (The) brazen attack, yung (the) utter disregard sa batayang karapatang-pantao ng mga mamamayan (of basic human rights of the people),” she added.
The NUPL is still studying the case and will let Valle recuperate from the incident as her health had been affected due to the trauma and stress from the incident before proceeding with the legal battle. DIVINA NOVA JOY DELA CRUZ
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