The clamor for freedom for political detainee Jose “Joe” Cawiding took off with last week’s launch of a signature campaign for his immediate release and the dropping of charges against him.

BY KIM QUITASOL
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 37, October 21-27, 2007

BAGUIO CITY (246 kms north of Manila) — The clamor for freedom for political detainee Jose “Joe” Cawiding took off with last week’s launch of a signature campaign for his immediate release and the dropping of charges against him.

Cawiding was charged with eight counts of murder and one frustrated murder at Branch 35, Regional Trial Court, Bontoc Mt. Province in relation to the July 14, 2003 ambush staged by the New People’s Army (NPA) against Army troopers, the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) earlier said.

CHRA, Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), Metro-Baguio Tribal Elders and Leaders Assembly (MBTELA) and the Itogon Inter-Barangay Alliance (IIB-A) launched a signature campaign calling for Cawiding’s immediate and unconditional release in a press conference.

CPA Chair Beverly Longid said the petition calling for Cawiding’s release and a stop to political persecution would be forwarded to the Department of National Defense (DND), Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), among others.

“This is also a statement to the Arroyo government that it should respect our rights and democratic space in our society,” Longid stressed.

Call for immediate, unconditional release

“As he is behind bars, there is a mounting call for his immediate release,” his wife and colleague Jeanette Ribaya-Cawiding said.

Jeanette called on all the organizations and individuals to join his family in the petition to end political persecution and calling for Cawiding’s release as she thanked everyone who have been supporting her husband. She stressed Cawiding’s arrest was based on trumped-up charges aimed to silence and stop him from working for peace and justice.

“With your help and active participation in our work we will all overcome. We will prevail because we are just,” she said.

In a statement, the Metro-Baguio Tribal Elders and Leaders Assembly (MBTELA), an association of elders and leaders of different migrant tribes from all over Cordillera residing here condemned Cawiding’s detention.

“Joe is a peace-loving person and a peace-maker himself. He co-founded MBTELA with the purpose of stopping tribal wars and promoting peace and unity among the different tribes in the Cordillera,” the statement read.

Cawiding is currently MBTELA secretary and an accredited Supreme Court mediator for the Philippine Mediation Center.

“Good man”

Rosita Bargaso, founding chair of the IIB-A , questioned Cawiding’s detention. “Anya nga gapu nga ibaludda ni Joe? Apay nga isuna ti mangikaro ti haanna nga basul?” (Why should Joe be put to jail? Why should he suffer for the transgressions of others?) she stressed.

Bargaso said she was with Cawiding in the anti-open pit mining struggle in Itogon in the 1990s. She said he is a good man.

“Nasakit ti nakem mi iti pannakabalud ni Joe. Ti pagyamanan mi laeng ket haan da nga inlemmeng isuna kasla iti daduma nga inggana ita ket haan pay nga mabirukan” (We are saddened by his detention. We are, however, thankful he was not among those who have disappeared) Bargaso said.

Cawiding was an IIB-A organizer from 1988 to 1990, according to Bargaso – a claim to which Ucab barangay councilman Eduardo Daniel, Camp Lolita resident Ruben Fianizor and Tuding elder Simplicio Sicuan attest.

Former Benguet Governor Raul Molintas said he has known Cawiding as an organizer. “In my personal knowledge of Joe, I do not understand how can he be an intelligence officer of the New People’s Army (NPA),” he said.

Molintas said Cawiding has been actively and openly working in legal organizations in Baguio and Benguet. “I do not know the reasons of the witnesses for including him in the charges,” he said.

Molintas was the former legal counsel of the IIB-A.

Speedy trial

As the petition for Cawiding’s release gains support from various groups and individuals, the legal team, headed by Randy Kinaud, hopes for a speedy trial.

Imelda Tabiando of CHRA said the rights group is also going through all legal processes to ensure Cawiding’s freedom. She iterated Cawiding’s case is not isolated but a part of the national counter-insurgency program of the Arroyo administration, the Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL or Operation Freedom Watch). She added under the said program legal people’s organizations and party-list groups like Bayan Muna are tagged as enemies of the state.

Tabiando added that through the OBL, the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group (IALAG) was created to file charges against members and leaders of people’s organizations listed as enemies of the state to silence the growing dissent against the Arroyo administration.

“We strongly believe that no one should be jailed because of his political beliefs,” Tabiando said.

Tabiando explained that as a result of the arraignment last week at the Regional Trial Court of Bontoc, Mt. Province, Cawiding was allowed to stay at the Benguet provincial jail, where he is currently being detained.

Tabiando added a pre-conference is scheduled on Oct. 26 and the court hearing would start on Nov. 7. Northern Dispatch /(Bulatlat.com)