UCCP bishop asks Baguio court to stop ‘Tokhang’ vs Left

BAGUIO CITY –– A bishop of the United Church of the Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) has asked a Baguio Court on Monday, Mar. 8, to stop the police from employing “Tokhang” on activists and people they suspect to have ties to communist rebels.

UCCP Bishop Emeritus Reuel Norman Marigza petitioned the Court for an injunction and a temporary restraining order against Resolution No. 4 of the Cordillera Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (RLECC).

Resolution 2 seeks to send police and anti-communist groups to the homes of people “red-tagged” by the government to persuade them to abandon their allegiance to the New People’s Army, the Communist Party of the Philippines, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

RLECC is an intelligence-sharing organization of law enforcement agencies.

Marigza said the RLECC initiative puts the lives of many activists in danger following recent killings of militants in other parts of the country.

Tokhang was a police operation used at the start of the government’s war on drugs and has been associated with killings of drug suspects.

He informed the Court that social media posts attributed to police and military officials have identified him, Mariqza, as a communist sympathizer and a terrorist because UCCP has offered sanctuary to the Lumad in Mindanao.

The City Council has asked RLECC to attend an inquiry into its Tokhang resolution on Monday afternoon.

LZB