A police officer admitted during cross-examination in court that he was unable to capture the actual operation on his body camera because he hid himself, claiming ‘he was scared’
CEBU, Philippines – It has been more than two years since activists Carmen Jonahville Matarlo and John Michael Tecson saw their families since they were arrested for alleged illegal possession of firearms and explosives in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on March 18, 2022.
They were released from detention on Thursday, November 14, their legal counsel Kristian Jacob Casas-Abad Lora told Rappler on Monday, November 18.
This happened a day after the decision on their case was officially promulgated in a local court on November 13 — they were found not guilty on all charges.
Like many rights advocates and dissenters of the government under former president Rodrigo Duterte’s term, Matarlo and Tecson were at the receiving end of multiple red-tagging and attempts to silence them.
In March 2022, the two were in Negros Occidental to campaign for a political party. They stayed in a house in Barangay Suay when police and military personnel arrived at their location at around 4 am.
“There was no search warrant. The police officers claimed that they showed the owner of the house arrest warrants against Ramon Patriarca, their companion,” the lawyer said.
Cops alleged that they saw Matarlo and Tecson holding firearms, had explosives scattered near their feet, and recorded the incident on their body cameras.
After the encounter, Patriarca and the two activists, later dubbed the Himamaylan 3, were detained in the Himamaylan City Police Station where they would spend more than two years away from their families.
Authorities later filed charges for illegal possession of firearms and explosives against the three, including a charge of violating the gun ban during the election period at the time.
Court findings
Lora said that they had filed a motion requesting copies of the recording of the incident from the police. The court also moved to request the same. Police failed to submit any copy of the video recordings from the body cameras.
During the court trial, a police officer who allegedly wore a body camera during the arrest operation admitted in cross-examination that he was unable to capture the actual raid because he “hid” himself, claiming he was scared.
“We presented the owner of the house as our witness for the defense but she said that there was no arrest warrant that was shown to her,” the defense lawyer told Rappler.
What was presented to the witness during the incident, Lora added, was a picture of a person believed to be the boyfriend of her neighbor. According to the lawyer, police showed multiple arrest warrants for Patriarca during the trial.
The owner of the house testified that she was scared when she allowed the authorities to enter the house because they were carrying long firearms. Lora argued that the owner’s consent to the warrantless search was not freely, voluntarily, and intelligently given.
“She further testified that she saw the military personnel bringing a big white Orocan container filled with firearms inside her house after JM and the other male were already handcuffed and made to lie face down on the ground in the living room,” Lora said in a separate statement.
The court said in its judgement that it noted the “dedication and vigilance” of the law enforcers in combating crimes in the communities.
“However, rules and regulations as well as laws that ensure the observance of due process, and the preservation and integrity of evidence, must not be unjustifiably and unreasonably subverted,” the court added.
Injustice
Members of the the party-list group Kabataan celebrated the release of the activists, while also pointing out the oppression faced by those who stand against the government.
“This is a case that has happened all too many times before. In reality, the [military] has been constantly threatening mass activists and their supporters with weapons and violence in order to make them do what they want, arrest who they want, and kill who they want,” Hannah Taboada, Kabataan Cebu City coordinator, said in a statement sent to Rappler on Monday.
Matarlo is a former member and vice president for Visayas of Kabataan. In November 2017, Matarlo survived a shooting incident in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental, which took the lives of rights group Karapatan Negros Oriental coordinator Elisa Badayos and peasant leader Eleuterio Moises.
Tecson is a member of Youth for Peace and Environmental Concerns (YPEC) and son of slain fisherfolk advocate Alberto Tecson who was shot dead by unidentified men. Before Alberto’s death, his family reported that soldiers visited his home and accused the fisherfolk advocate of transporting armed men on his pump boat.
“This is proof that the [National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict] along with the military and other agencies actively fabricate charges against community organizers and leaders empowering peasants and other marginalized sectors fighting for their rights,” Kabataan said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Karapatan Central Visayas Spokesperson Dennis Abarientos told Rappler on Monday that justice has yet to be served.
“It will only be so if the military and police officials who manufactured this case are hauled to court and the full might of justice brought upon them,” he added.
Rappler has reached out to the contacts of the activists for an interview. A follow-up article will be made with their thoughts on the matter. – Rappler.com
