Free 2 Dumagat mothers, priest appeals to Aquino

LUCENA CITY—Catholic priest Fr. Pete Montallana, a known protector of indigenous people in the Sierra Madre mountain ranges, appealed to President Aquino for the immediate release of two Dumagat women who have been in detention since last year.

In an open letter to President Aquino, also the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Montallana noted that “while news is centered on the killing of the ‘lumad’ in Mindanao, I would like to write again about the hapless Dumagat mothers, Marites Marquez, 43, and Rosario Loreto, 37, who are suffering in jail for one year now.”

Marquez and Loreto were tagged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels involved in the abduction of retired Army soldier Lino Hernandez on Sept. 26, 2014, in the village of Tinucan, Tanay town in Rizal province.

Policemen and soldiers arrested the two women hours after the abduction of Hernandez on the basis of the supposed testimony given by two witnesses.

Hernandez remains missing until now, while the NPA command operating in the area has been mum on the case.

On Jan. 7, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered the case of the two Dumagat reinvestigated after the Department of Justice found the arrest illegal because of procedural lapses, including the absence of a warrant.

“The military should admit its mistake and simply withdraw the case. To reason out that the case is now in the court is hypocrisy and not ‘tuwid na daan’ (straight path),” Montallana said in his appeal to President Aquino dated Oct. 7.

He added: “Nobody is perfect but we have to restore justice immediately to those wronged. Failure to admit to our mistakes brings us trouble and un-peace.”

Montallana is the coordinator of the Indigenous People’s Apostolate of the Diocese of Infanta who is working closely with the mountain natives in Sierra Madre.

“The Dumagat in the Sierra Madre belong to a common ancestry and to perpetuate injustice (on) them is to push them further into the arms of insurgency,” the priest said.

The Dumagat/Agta tribe makes its home in the Sierra Madre mountain range but is caught in the middle of the armed conflict between government soldiers and communist guerrillas.

The priest, along with relatives of the two women and indigenous peoples’ groups, have been working for the release of the two women from the police jail in Tanay, Rizal province.