2 Agta women still in jail

LUCENA CITY—Two female members of the Agta tribe, tagged by the military as communist rebels, are languishing in jail despite a Department of Justice (DOJ) order that found their arrest to be illegal.

Fr. Pete Montallana said Agta women Marites Marquez, 43, and her cousin, Rosario Loreto, 37, are still in detention despite the DOJ order.

Montallana is coordinator of the Indigenous People’s Apostolate of the Diocese of Infanta who is working closely with the Agta community in the Sierra Madre.

The two women, residents of the village of Umiray in General Nakar town in Quezon province and members of the Agta tribe in the Sierra Madre, will remain in jail for another month despite the DOJ ruling, the priest said.

“Injustice in this country is really cruel,” Montallana said over the phone on Wednesday.

Marquez and Loreto were tagged as New People’s Army (NPA) rebels involved in the abduction of retired Army soldier Lino Hernandez on Sept. 26, 2014, in the village of Tinucan, Tanay town in Rizal province.

Policemen and soldiers arrested the two women hours after the abduction of Hernandez on the basis of supposed testimony given by two witnesses.

Hernandez remains missing to date. The NPA command operating in the area has been mum on the case.

On Jan. 7, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered the case reinvestigated after the DOJ found the arrest illegal because of procedural lapses, including the absence of a warrant. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon