Duterte urged: Free seven Cordillera political prisoners

NDFP consultant rotting in jail 

BAGUIO CITY – A Cordillera militant group urged incoming president Rodrigo Duterte to free seven political prisoners languishing in jails in the region for crimes they did not commit. The Cordillera People’s Alliance said three are detained in Kalinga, two in Ifugao and another two in Mt. Province.

Abigail Anongos, CPA secretary general said most of the political prisoners were detained for more than two years in jails facing trumped up criminal charges ranging from multiple murder, illegal possession of firearms, explosives and ammunitions, and more.

         One of the prominent political prisoner in the region is Kennedy Bangibang.

         Anongos said Bangibang was arrested February 2013 and now detained at the Kalinga Provincial Jail in Tabuk City facing multiple cases.

 He is regional consultant for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines on indigenous peoples concerns.

“His arrest is a major blow in the conduct of grassroots consultations and dialogues on indigenous peoples concerns in the region to be included to the proposed Comprehensive Agreement on Socio Economic Reforms (CASER) by the NDFP,” Anongos said.

In Ifugao, Rene Boy Abiva, an employee of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and an organizer of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) in Cagayan and Virgilio Corpuz, a development worker and at the same time an organizer of Piston in Cagayan Valley are suffering at the provincial jail.

Both were reportedly “maliciously charged” in relation to an ambushed allegedly staged by the New People’s Army in Tinoc, Ifugao. Abiva was arrested in December 2012 while Corpuz was arrested on January 2013.

 “We support and reiterate the call of Diwin, a young and bright school boy and son of Bangibang, for the immediate release of his father and all the political prisoners in the region,” Anongos said.