Court stops military from taking custody of wounded rebel

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – A local court has prevented the military and police from taking custody of a female New People’s Army rebel who was severely wounded in a recent encounter with soldiers in Davao Oriental.

Judge Isaac Robillo of the regional trial court Branch 13, acting immediately on a petition filed by human rights lawyers last Friday, issued a writ of amparo and directed that Vanessa delos Reyes remain under the care of the Southern Philippines Medical Center.

The human rights lawyers filed the petition to prevent the military and the police from transferring Delos Reyes from the Southern Philippines Medical Center to their custody. Dr. Ricardo Audan, SPMC’s officer-in-charge, had consented to the transfer.

In his decision, Judge Isaac Robillo of the RTC Branch 13, said Delos Reyes should remain at the SPMC where she had been transferred from a Surigao del Sur government hospital for a bullet lodged in her spine.

Lawyer Faye Resonar of the Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) said they filed the writ in response to reports they received that Delos Reyes was being transferred to a police detention cell despite her condition.

“It is a protected writ. The respondents have to prove their point that Vanessa is ready to be transferred to a facility outside where she is right now. Efforts to move her out of the hospital while she is undergoing treatment were really weird. This insistence from the respondents is weird and worrisome,” Resonar said.

Resonar also said Delos Reyes has not been furnished a copy of the murder complaints the police had supposedly filed against her and her fellow rebels, Jason Casilum and Ariel Haducala, who were also wounded in the Davao Oriental clash.

Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who helped Delos Reyes’ transfer from Surigao to this city, also welcomed the issuance of the writ of amparo by saying that she must continue her medical treatment at the SPMC.

He said he agreed that transferring Delos Reyes to a police detention cell was too risky and could jeopardize her life.

“Why make it more complicated when it can be solved by using your head and not put the lives of these people in jeopardy?” he said, addressing the military and the police.

Colonel Lyndon Paniza, spokesman of the 10th Infantry Division, said they would abide by the court order.