Mistaken identity? Cops arrest Kadamay leader for murder

ANGELES CITY—Members of the urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) on Tuesday protested the arrest of their leader in Mabalacat City purportedly on a murder charge at Cadiz City in Negros Occidental province.

Police enforced an arrest warrant issued against Ruby Palabrica. But the woman who was placed under custody on March 29 was Ruby Lacadman, a community organizer.

“Ruby is not a murderer. That is not true. She has been working in Pampanga for so many years so she should be freed,” said Kadamay Metro Clark spokesperson Elvie Adona.

A report from the regional police office in Camp Olivas said Lacadman, 38, was arrested in her home at Barangay Cacutud based on a warrant for murder that was issued against “Ruby Palabrica y Quiatson.”

A Ruby Palabrica is listed among 600 people who the Department of Justice identified as members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.

Lacadman worked as secretary of the barangay council and organized homeless families in Mabalacat, Adona said.

In 2016, she joined Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Central Luzon as a staff member. —Tonette Orejas