Letter to the Editor — Travesty of justice

We are disgusted that the governor eagerly basked on a travesty of justice as it unfolded before her at the capitol Monday, 3 September 2006.

On that day, agents of the governor's PAIT Force (Provincial Anti-Insurgency Task Force) finally presented to her Gerard Lavadia and Sharon Abangan whom they arrested without warrant, detained incommunicado for three days, tortured and forced to commit self-incrimination.

In ignoring these acts of blatant disregard of constitutional guarantees, the governor not only failed to uphold her oath of office but betrayed altogether the very principles of democratic governance as she went on to publicly humiliate the two victims like convicted criminals. She even has the gall to flaunt further her mockery of her oath by gloating over tampered evidences that she awkwardly toyed with for photo ops.

From this travesty of justice, a grand conspiracy theory has been concocted to justify escalation of attacks not only against cause-oriented groups but also local opposition and perceived political enemies of the governor

The governor is clearly turning the province into a police state to ensure her reign beyond 2007. And we can not allow that to happen.

Atty. Poch Cinco
Chairperson
KARAPATAN-Central Visayas