File charges, police dare lawyers of 11 young ‘rebels’

BAGUIO CITY - Cordillera policemen challenged the lawyers of 11 youths tagged as communist rebels to file charges against them for alleged inhuman treatment while the suspects were under police custody.

Superintendent Joseph Adnol, Cordillera police community relations officer, posed the challenge to the lawyers of the 11 detained youths, whom the police alleged took part in the New People’s Army (NPA) attack on an Army detachment in Mankayan, Benguet last Feb. 10.

"We encourage them to file (charges) against persons who inflicted the harm," Adnol said.

Lawyer Pablo Sanidad, national chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), accepted the challenge.

"The challenge is accepted," he said.

"We dare Superintendent (Brent) Madjako and his men, including Superintendent Adnol, to be men enough to admit their guilt when we prove it," he said.

Madjako, who heads the 1604th Benguet Provincial Mobile Group, was one of those awarded medals of bravery in Monday’s turnover rites at Camp Dangwa, the regional police headquarters in La Trinidad, Benguet.

Aside from Sanidad, three more human rights lawyers will defend the detained youths in court – Noe Villanueva, Reynaldo Cortez, and Jose Molintas.

Last Monday morning, parents of the 11 youths sought assistance from FLAG as they cried foul over the alleged torture of their children.

Adnol, however, said the charges of robbery with homicide filed against the 11 youths were largely based on the accounts of witnesses to the Feb. 10 attack on the Army detachment.

Senior Superintendent Marvin Bolabola, Cordillera chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the arrest of the 11 youths was done properly.

Bolabola, whose office spearheaded the filing of the charges, said eyewitnesses positively identified them as among those who raided the military detachment.