DOJ urged: Drop charges, free indigenous CPA leader

By Jeffrey Damicog

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been pressed to dismiss the criminal charges against indigenous group leader Windel Bolinget, chairperson of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) and order his release.
    Bolinget was among 11 alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) accused in a 2018 murder case in Davao del Norte.  
    He is one of the petitioners in 37 cases against the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020 pending with the Supreme Court.
    The plea was aired by Kapatid, a support group for political prisoners and their families.
    In a statement, Kapatid – through spokesperson Fides Lim – said: “While we ask the DOJ to heed the call of Windel’s family for due process of law and that his rights to fair and impartial trial be respected, we strongly assert that the case lodged against him should be dropped and that he should be freed as the case has no leg to stand on because it is built on nothing.”
    In the same statement, Kapatid asked Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra to heed the request of the family that Bolinget remain in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Baguio City.
    In a letter to Guevarra, Bolinget’s wife Elvira said:
    “In the crusade of my husband to prove his innocence, we appeal to you to ensure that due process is granted him. We hope you can ensure his right to undergo preliminary investigation, which was denied him and allow that he remains under the NBI’s protective custody here in Baguio City given the threats issued by the PNP (Philippine National Police) against him.”
    Elvira told Guevarra that her husband has surrendered and has been under the NBI’s protective custody since last Jan. 22 after the PNP Cordillera Regional Office issued a “shoot-to-kill” order and offered a ₱100,000 bounty on his head.
Meanwhile, Bolinget’s lawyer, Jose Monlintas, has filed a motion before regional trial court (RTC) Branch 30 in Tagum City and pleaded the case be returned to the DOJ for re-investigation.
    Molintas said Bolinget “did not receive any subpoena to be able to clear his name during the preliminary investigation, obviously because the complainants misled the prosecution by stating that his address is at Sitio Mankay, Gupitan, Kapalong, Davao del Norte where the subpoena was served” even though he is in “Baguio City and Cordillera Region where he is based doing his job.”