This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 7 March 21, 2007
Harassed Bayan Muna Member Files Charges vs AFP
BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bayan Muna (People First) member Alberto
Corbes filed election-related and criminal charges today against the
members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deployed in Lupang
Pangako, Payatas, Quezon City.
At 10:30 a.m., Corbes, assisted by Karapatan
(Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights) legal counsel Rex Fernandez,
filed charges against Lt. Roel Cotillon at the Quezon City Fiscal’s Office.
In his sworn statement, Corbes alleged that
Cotillon harassed him on Feb. 26 upon learning that he is a Bayan Muna member.
Corbes was carrying Bayan Muna membership forms
for the group’s organizing in their place in Payatas when five soldiers
allegedly blocked his way.
Upon learning about the Bayan Muna forms, he
said Cotillon allegedly told him, “Iyang Bayan Muna ay mga NPA (New
People’s Army), tigilan mo na ’yan. May kaso ‘yan. Disqualified na yan!”
(Bayan Muna is an NPA front, stop that already. There is a case against your
group. You are already disqualified!)
Although he denied the accusation, he said
Cotillon allegedly threatened him, “Kung ayaw mong tigilan ‘yan, hindi ka na
aabutan ng Cuaresma” (If you don’t stop that you won’t live to see the Holy
Week).
The next two days, Corbes noticed two men in
front of his house. On March 1, he said he was hearing noise outside and saw his
fence destroyed. When he peeked through the window, somebody threw stones at him
that wounded his head and right knee.
He immediately secured a medico-legal check-up
at the East Avenue Medical Center the next day. He also said he was not able to
go to work for 10 days.
He said he only thought of one person who could
have the motive to do such thing on him, Cotillon who allegedly once threatened
his life. Since the barangay (village) hall is where the soldiers stay, he
instead reported the incident to the Bayan Muna headquarters.
Fernandez said that the soldiers were charged
with grave threats, coercion and less physical injuries.
With Corbes, leaders of Bayan Muna filed a new
complaint at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against the AFP for their
partisan political activities.
“What the AFP is doing against Bayan Muna is a
brazen violation of the law, which the Comelec is duty bound to stop and
punish,” Bayan Muna general counsel Neri Javier Colmenares said, citing Corbes’
sworn statement.
According to Colmenares, the deployed AFP
personnel allegedly violated Section 261 (e) and (i) Article 22 of the Omnibus
Election Code related to “threats, intimidation, terrorism, use of fraudulent
device or other forms of coercion” and to “intervention by public officers and
employees.”
He added that Comelec Resolution No. 7747 dated
Nov. 21, 2006, and the Comelec-Department of National Defense Memorandum of
Agreement dated Oct. 12, 2006 were also violated by AFP presence in urban poor
communities. “The military’s campaign
against Bayan Muna is not community service. It is a crime,” said Bayan Muna
Rep. Teddy Casino. Bulatlat © 2007 Bulatlat
■
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Posted 3:50 p.m., March 21, 2007