CHR asked to probe ‘trumped-up’ charges vs activists

MANILA, Philippines — Indigenous and rights groups have formally sought the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate “trumped-up” charges against several of their members, and to look into the “warrant factories” phenomenon that has led to the arrest and detention of several activists nationwide. On Monday, the groups, led by the House Makabayan bloc, filed a letter urging the CHR to investigate what they called “judicial harassment” against 10 activists facing murder charges over the death of Karadyawan indigenous tribe member Garito Tiklonay Malibato in Davao del Norte in 2018.

Among those charged were Makabayan regional coordinator Agnes Mesina, Karapatan national council member Daisy Valencia and Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance chair Windel Bolinget.

All of them have, at some point, been Red-tagged and identified in leaflets and posters by the military as communist rebels.

Karapatan said they were named in “questionable testimonies of alleged former NPA members more than two years after Malibato’s death,” and were not even informed of the charges and the preliminary investigations. INQ