Rights group vows to appeal activist’s release

SAN PEDRO CITY –– The militant group Karapatan called for the release of a 23-year-old activist in Quezon province on Tuesday, citing her arrest and detention as a case of the state’s violation of human rights.

As it commemorated International Human Rights Day, Karapatan Southern Tagalog (ST) said it would “definitely appeal” the decision of the Court of Appeals in October that denied the petition for habeas corpus filed for Alexandrea Pacalda.

Pacalda was arrested in September and was charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

Karapatan-ST spokesperson Kyle Salgado said in a phone interview that Pacalda’s stay in detention subjected her to “continuing mental torture and interrogation” by the military and the police.

About a hundred activists from the region joined a two-day Human Rights day rally to Manila.

On Monday, the group trooped to various government agencies in Quezon City and to the Philippine National Police headquarters to hold the government responsible for the arrests of political activists.

Specifically, they opposed the “whole-of-nation-approach” of the government to end insurgency in the provinces based on President Duterte’s Executive Order signed last year.

The group proceeded to the Department of Justice on Tuesday morning and was set to join a bigger rally by militant groups at the Liwasang Bonifacio in the afternoon.

Edited by Lzb