Family of arrested journalist: No mistaken identity; she’s a clear target
Davao City-based journalist Margarita Valle takes a puff of an inhaler to stave off an asthma attack while at the Bishop’s House in Pagadian City past 10 p.m. on Sunday, June 9, 2019. Photo by LEAH AGONOY / Inquirer Mindanao
MANILA, Philippines — The arrest of a veteran community journalist, 61-year-old Margarita Valle, was not a case of mistaken identity at all, her family said Tuesday.
“She was a clear target,” Valle’s family said in a statement posted on Facebook.
“Mistaken identity is but a ludicrous propaganda of the PNP in the advent of the public outrage and pressure to surface and release our Nanay Gingging,” they added.
https://www.facebook.com/1296017847/posts/10213753130764600?s=1757096517&sfns=mo
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) earlier admitted they made a mistake after holding Valle close to nine hours in detention on Sunday by virtue of a decade-old arrest warrant for a murder case.
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Article continues after this advertisementValle’s family said her ordeal was a “clear example of the vicious pattern of state forces of attacks against journalists, dissenters and human rights defenders.”
“Our mother, Gingging, is part of the growing number of human rights workers and defenders, journalists, Lumads, peasants and workers who have been targeted for their stand against the countless state-sponsored human rights violations, especially in Mindanao,” they said.
The family urged that police officer be held accountable for the incident adding that they are studying all possible remedies against those responsible for the incident.
“Let us all remain vigilant. We should remain firm and steadfast in our struggle for our fundamental rights and freedoms,” they said.
“Our family, along with countless others who decry what clearly was a human rights violation, demand justice for Nanay Gingging Valle. Because state terror wins only when fear rules over people. We will not be silenced,” Valle’s family added. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)
