Año to local execs: Don’t coddle communist rebels

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said a provincial board member of Quezon would be charged criminally and administratively for allegedly coddling two top communist rebels who were arrested on Dec. 26 in a house the official owned in Atimonan town.

In a statement on Wednesday, Año said Board Member Rhodora Tan could be jailed for at most six years if found guilty of obstruction of justice.

“How can she explain the arrest of the NPA (New People’s Army) members in her home? It’s wrong to coddle and protect the enemies of the state who have long been making our citizens suffer. There are harsher sanctions if you are a public official,” Año said.

Año further berated Tan, saying: “Instead of taking the lead on having these terrorists arrested, you are coddling them. Where does your loyalty lie? The country and democracy or the terrorists and communism?”

The alleged NPA members, Ruel Custodio and Ruben Istokado, were arrested on Dec. 26 by virtue of court-issued warrants inside Tan’s house in Barangay Zone 3, Atimonan. Custodio is allegedly a finance officer of the NPA’s Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee, while Istokado is allegedly a political instructor of the Bicol Regional Party Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA.

Custodio is allegedly responsible for collecting “revolutionary taxes” in Quezon and was the subject of arrest warrants issued last year on charges of kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms.

Istokado purportedly spreads CPP-NPA propaganda and recruits communist rebels. Arrest warrants had been issued against him on charges of double murder and multiple murder in 2014.

Shelter

Tan strongly denied any involvement with the rebels.

According to her, the house where the rebels were arrested is a “panuluyang bahay” (shelter) for stranded residents from Alabat Island, which is part of the province’s fourth district she represents.

“Anyone is free to stay in the house at any given time. We do not discriminate people who want to seek shelter in the house. We welcome everyone,” Tan said on Thursday.

“My conscience is clear. I don’t know the people who stay in the shelter. They come, they go; I don’t know their names or where they live,” she added.

She clarified that the house belonged to her late brother-in-law and was lent to her starting 2013 when she was elected board member so it could serve as a shelter to stranded islanders in her district.

“Never did I imagine that I would be placed in this kind of situation. Why am I being judged? Is it a crime to provide shelter [to people in need]? Why am I going to be sued?” she asked.

She admitted there had been several instances when the police and the military would arrive and inspect the shelter, but she said she was not worried because she had nothing to hide.

According to Tan, her driver, who also serves as cook, stays on the second floor of the house. There were times, she said, when her driver would call her to inform her that the shelter had visitors but she would not ask for details.

Questioning loyalty

Año said Tan could also be charged as an accomplice or accessory to the crimes committed by the NPA members “if proven that she was involved or made any effort to protect them.”He said the board member would likewise be facing administrative liabilities for disloyalty under the Civil Service Commission rules and “can either be removed or suspended from office [if] found guilty.”

He cited Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, which requires loyalty to country.