Civilian jail for activist if court orders it

LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines — An Army official said on Wednesday that arrested youth activist Alexandrea Pacalda will be transferred to civilian jail upon court order.

“We’re just waiting for the court order. Once it is issued, she will be immediately transferred,” said Capt. Benedict Alfonso Cagatin, civil-military officer of the Army’s 201st Infantry Brigade based in Calauag, Quezon.

Pacalda, who faces charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition at the Provincial Prosecutors Office in Lucena, is still inside the Army camp in Calauag pending the court decision.

On Monday, Pacalda’s father Arnulfo and lawyer Maria Sol Taule filed a petition for habeas corpus before the Supreme Court to force the military to produce the activist in court.

Army soldiers took Pacalda in Barangay Magsaysay in General Luna town on Sept. 14, and said that she had surrendered.

Pacalda, a campus journalist, however, denied this in a video message. —Delfin T. Mallari Jr.