MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis Pangilinan urged state forces on Wednesday to stop their crackdown on activists, following a series of arrests made by the police and the military in Negros and Metro Manila.
Pangilinan said activists are “ordinary citizens who actively engage the state to fulfill its duty to the people” and exercise their right to demand public service and accountability from government officials.
“A responsible government does not respond to these engagements and demands with force, violence, or even criminal acts,” he said in a statement.
“This is why the recent arrests of activists in Negros and Metro Manila, where some of those arrested were just bystanders and even minors, are especially worrisome,” he added.
Pangilinan also said that progressive groups claiming that the seized guns and explosives from the raids were planted, is a “troubling trend” in anti-drug operations.
“We condemn these arrests and raids, an appalling continuation of the apparent state policy to decimate any opposition to its wrong-headed policies like the fake but nonetheless deadly drug war,” he said.
He added that the state exists to uphold and protect the rights of its citizens.
On October 31, 40 persons were arrested while 14 children were “rescued” in a series of raids in the offices of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Anakpawis, and Gabriela in Barangay Bata, as well the National Federation of Sugarcane Workers (NFSW) office in Barangay Taculing, and at a house in Barangay 33, all in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.
Three more activists were arrested for alleged possession of guns and an explosive in a raid in a Bayan office in Tondo, Manila on Tuesday.
Police maintained that the allegation that pieces of evidence were planted is a common alibi of arrested suspects./gsg
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