Court told: Don’t treat rebels as common criminals

BOCALA

KALIBO, Aklan—Alleged communist rebel leader Maria Concepcion Araneta-Bocala on Friday pleaded not guilty to a murder case filed 34 years ago.

When asked for her plea during her arraignment at the Kalibo, Aklan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 2, Bocala immediately replied: “Not guilty” to Judge Cicero Lampasa.

Lawyer Janne Baterna, lead counsel of the eight-member defense team, said Bocala  is not a common criminal or murderer, but a “rebel or revolutionary.”

Bocala is among the accused in the killing of Metodio Inisa on Sept. 17, 1975, in Barangay Panipiason in Madalag town in Aklan.

The murder case was filed in 1981 against Bocala and other suspected leaders and members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army on Panay Island.

Bocala, who turned 65 on Aug. 26, is allegedly the head of the CPP’s Panay regional committee.

She was arrested in a house in Molo District in Iloilo City on Aug. 1 and carries a P7.8-million bounty on her head.

Baterna, of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, said the defense team would push for the dismissal of the case.

He said the charge against Bocala’s co-accused Ruben Saluta had been dismissed for lack of evidence and witnesses.

Bocala is also facing a rebellion case filed in Antique and separate cases of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and illegal possession of explosives at the Iloilo RTC.

She has denied the charges, insisting that these were trumped up and the evidence “planted.”

Baterna said defense lawyers also opposed a request of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to transfer Bocala to a detention facility in Iloilo.

The BJMP had said that it lacked resources and personnel to detain a high-risk inmate like Bocala during the duration of her trial.

But Baterna said Bocala should be detained at the BJMP facility in Barangay Nalook in the capital town of Kalibo which is nearer to the court where her case is being heard.

Wearing a yellow prison shirt, a purple shawl, black pants and sneakers with pink trimmings, Bocala arrived nearly an hour early for her arraignment.

Security for her arraignment was tight.

At least 100 policemen, soldiers, jail guards and anti-riot team members guarded the Hall of Justice, where the court is, and areas nearby.

Policemen were also posted on the route of the convoy carrying Bocala, according to Senior Supt. Iver Apellido, Aklan police director.

Court security guards barred journalists from entering the two-story Hall of Justice, citing security reasons.

At least 10 journalists had to wait for about two hours outside the building until the arraignment was concluded.

Baterna briefed the journalists on what transpired in the courtroom.

Bocala was whisked out of the building by her security escorts through a side door avoiding journalists who waited at the main entrance at the front of the building.

Her escorts also prevented journalists, who ran to the side entrance, from getting near the convoy that carried Bocala.

The court set the start of Bocala’s trial in marathon hearings on Oct. 6 and 7, according to Baterna.