MANILA, Philippines — A day after his going back and forth a military camp yielded nothing, he finally found his daughter at a police station in Quezon. But she – all too exhausted and apparently starving – failed to recognize him right away.
Arnulfo Pacalda went to the Supreme Court and filed a petition for habeas corpus, praying for the immediate release of his daughter, Alexandrea, a student-activist who allegedly admitted being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
“Nung nakita ko po s’ya sa General Luna [Police Station] lupaypay po ‘yung anak ko. Parang hindi po nakatulog, parang nanlambot po sya. Hindi nya po ako agad namukhaan sa sobrang pagod,” Arnulfo Pacalda, father of Alexandrea said.
(When I found her in General Luna [Police Station], she was qualmish. It seemed like she was not able to sleep, she appeared very weak. She was not able to recognize me immediately because of did not even immediately recognized me because of feebleness.)
“Hindi ko po alam ang nangyari sa anak ko. Hindi ko po alam kung ano po ang ginawa nila sa anak ko,” he said.
(I do not know what happened to my child. I do not know what they did to my daughter.)
INQUIRER.NET PHOTO/CATHY MIRANDA
The military took Alexandrea without any warrant last September 14, and was brought to the headquarters of the 85th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Villa Principe, Gumaca, Quezon.
Based on his petition, Pacalda and her children – Alexandrea and son Jessar – were coerced by the military to sign a document stating that Alexandrea voluntarily surrendered to authorities.
“Under coercive and intimidating environment and circumstances, the petitioner and her daughter were forced to sign under duress the said document,” it read.
According to his counsel Atty. Maria Sol Taule, the documents signed by the Pacaldas were done without the presence of a lawyer and that Alexandrea was interrogated by the military without the presence of a counsel.
On September 21, or seven days after Alexandrea was taken, the military filed illegal possession of firearms and explosives complaints against Pacalda’s daughter.
Alexandrea is still detained to this day. /kga
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