FOUR militant leaders were allegedly arrested on Wednesday evening, June 28, at Lasang checkpoint but the Task Force Davao (TFD) clarified that they did not detain the activists but only held them for questioning and released them hours after.
TFD commander Erwin Bernard Neri said on Thursday, June 29, that there was no apprehension conducted contrary to what the four militants claimed.
“They were just invited for verification of their identities,” Neri said.
The incident happened around 7 p.m. at TFD Lasang checkpoint after they received a report that there were suspicious persons on board an Isuzu Trooper coming from Tagum City that will enter Davao City.
The four militants were identified as Karapatan Southern Mindanao Region (SMR) Secretary General Hanimay Suazo, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP)-SMR chairperson Pedro Arnado, KMP-North Cotabato spokesperson Jerry Alborme, and Carmelito Lao, spokesperson of Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura in Southern Mindanao.
The militants were reportedly on their way home from a meeting with Madaum Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (Marbai); a group of farmers recently in dispute with Lapanday Foods Corporation in Tagum City.
Lao was invited for verification because of his standing warrant of arrest for qualified theft that was settled last December 2016. After further verification and when they provided the documents on dismissal of the case, he was released.
In a statement of TFD, the four were released from Bunawan Police Station around 10 p.m.
“No arrest or whatsoever was ever conducted last night except verification on the said Warrant of Arrest issued against Mr. Lao Sr.,” the statement said.
The move of the troops was only meant to perform their duty in securing the city against possible threats while still adhering to the martial law implementation and upholding the human rights.
“As the security of everyone is our primordial concern, TF Davao will always continuously intensify its security measures to ensure that no untoward incident will ever happened in Davao City,” it said.
The task force urged the public to support and cooperate with the security forces particularly those manning the checkpoints for safety and security purposes.
Karapatn SMR, a human rights group, said, in a statement, that the militants were accosted by the troops while on their way home from a meeting and were arrested.
They claimed that since the declaration of the all-out war by President Rodrigo Duterte and implementation of martial law last May 23, the human rights violations perpetrated by the soldiers have escalated and sparked abuses.
“The AFP has long fumbled to justify why the martial law declaration covered the whole of Mindanao, now it seems the answer is becoming more apparent. Intentions to further counterinsurgency operations through martial rule is evidenced by this recent arrest of progressive leaders in Southern Mindanao,” the statement said.
The militants called on President Duterte to lift the military ruling that has suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus.
“Ultimately, it is through the decisive scrapping of the US-directed and anti-people counterinsurgency program that human rights can be fully realized, and human rights defenders can be free to continue their work,” they said.