Six northern Luzon activists accused of rebellion post bail
>> Tuesday, February 28, 2023
BAGUIO CITY – Six activists accused of
rebellion and insurrection and arrested, posted bail here Monday, Feb. 20 for
their temporary liberty.
An arrest warrant was earlier issued against activists Sarah Abellon, Windel Bolinget, Lulu Gimenez, Florence Kang, Niño Oconer, and Steve Tauli.
Jennifer Awingan who was arrested last Jan. 30 was released on bail Feb. 7.
“The case filed against them (activists) is a reprisal against their work and advocacies as human rights defenders, as has been the pattern of the systematic political persecution against legitimate dissent by the Philippine State, especially through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC),” the Cordillera Peoples Alliance said in a statement Thursday.
“We welcome the granting of their right to bail but we continue to condemn the weaponization of the law against activists, humanitarian workers and human rights defenders. While there was a strong expression for solidarity, it was a struggle to come up with a P100,000 for the temporary liberty of each, given the worsening economic crisis. As long as activist organizations and civil society organizations are treated as 'enemies of the State' in terms of policies and programs, this pattern and incidence of trumped-up charges and other human rights violations will continue,” the CPA added.
“It is of utmost importance for the people to push back and assert human rights and democratic spaces for the attacks to stop. The Philippine government should be held to the highest account to their human rights obligations and erring State security forces and institutions should be brought to the bar of justice.”
An arrest warrant was earlier issued against activists Sarah Abellon, Windel Bolinget, Lulu Gimenez, Florence Kang, Niño Oconer, and Steve Tauli.
Jennifer Awingan who was arrested last Jan. 30 was released on bail Feb. 7.
“The case filed against them (activists) is a reprisal against their work and advocacies as human rights defenders, as has been the pattern of the systematic political persecution against legitimate dissent by the Philippine State, especially through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC),” the Cordillera Peoples Alliance said in a statement Thursday.
“We welcome the granting of their right to bail but we continue to condemn the weaponization of the law against activists, humanitarian workers and human rights defenders. While there was a strong expression for solidarity, it was a struggle to come up with a P100,000 for the temporary liberty of each, given the worsening economic crisis. As long as activist organizations and civil society organizations are treated as 'enemies of the State' in terms of policies and programs, this pattern and incidence of trumped-up charges and other human rights violations will continue,” the CPA added.
“It is of utmost importance for the people to push back and assert human rights and democratic spaces for the attacks to stop. The Philippine government should be held to the highest account to their human rights obligations and erring State security forces and institutions should be brought to the bar of justice.”
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