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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Betrayed' military to file case vs 2 environmental activists

'Betrayed' military to file case vs 2 environmental activists

Published Sep 21, 2023 09:01 am

The Philippine Army will file a case of perjury against two environmental activists who accused the military of kidnapping them right in the middle of the press conference that were supposed to highlight their surrender after their alleged abduction early this month. 

Army Chief Lt. Gen. Roy Galido admitted that they felt betrayed when activists Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro insisted that they were kidnapped by soldiers in Orion, Bataan on Sept. 2 during a press conference organized by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Present during the press conference were military and police officials and some local executives. 

“We are a country of laws, we have rules of law, we have a court here and we felt betrayed. That’s why we will file the necessary case and just have to use our laws. Just like when you are also betrayed when your clients are betrayed, they file a case against you, so we just have to follow the rule of law in our country,” said Galido.

Earlier, police investigators said the two activists were convinced into joining communist rebels, saying the information was relayed by their parents who sought government assistance. 

Galido maintained that Castro and Tamano went to the local military to seek assistance in order to be freed from the communist rebels recruiting them.

“What we're after here is just the truth, they went to us, they want to go back to the fold of the law, they provided a statement, we welcomed them,” said Galido.

He said the two even underwent the normal process of surrender as manifested by the presence of local officials and other representatives from the national government.

Galido added that the two even took their oath before a representative of the Public Attorney’s Office for their affidavit.

“So this action is very clear, all we want is to help them. If they are radicalized and maybe they now would want to be part of the government or part of society, we will help them just like any other surrenderees in the different parts of the country. The government is open to welcoming them back,” said Galido.

“We'll just file the case against them and we'll see, if the case prosper and it materializes then it’s a blunder they made,” he added.

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