All that United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Pastor Berlin Guerrero, 46, could think of when he spent a horrifying night at the hands of police captors was that he could either rot in jail or join his Creator.
BY DENNIS ESPADA
Bulatlat
Human Rights Watch
Vol. VII, No. 17 June 3-9, 2007
BINAN, LAGUNA, Philippines All that United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Pastor Berlin Guerrero, 46, could think of when he spent a horrifying night at the hands of police captors was that he could either rot in jail or join his Creator.
Here in Baranggay (village) Casile in Bian is where the ordeal began. According to witnesses, the pastor, together with his wife and children, were riding a tricycle on May 27 at around 5:30 p.m. when armed men blocked their path in front of Seven Star gas station and pointed guns at them. He asked if they had an arrest warrant, but he was struck on the nape and taken at gunpoint into a white Mitsubishi L300 van with a concealed plate number.
The abductors grabbed his wife Mylenes bag that contains money and her cell phone as they sped away. Some of them were even seen video taping the incident.
With the help of Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples Rights)- Southern Tagalog and colleagues from some Protestant denominations, the beleaguered family at once searched for him in various police camps and jails all night.
But the missing pastor suddenly surfaced the following day (May 28) when he called up his daughter Loras cell phone at 3:00 p.m. He told Mylene that he was turned over to the Philippine National Police (PNP)s provincial headquarters at Camp Pantaleon Garcia in Imus, Cavite (23 kms. south of Manila) as of 11:00 a.m. that day
Activist pastor
As a moral and spiritual overseer, Pastor Guerrero knew it was wrong being tortured and intimidated while blindfolded and handcuffed. It was only later that they told him he was charged with murder and inciting to sedition, supposed to have been committed in 1993 and 1988, respectively.
The way I was arrested, as the officers were trying to prove, was all wrong These cases were all fabricated. I was asked several more questions that have nothing to do with the cases they filed against me and when they were not satisfied with my answer, I get a punch right away, Karapatan-Southern Tagalog secretary-general Doris Cuario quoted him as saying.
She said that the pastor was hit and paddled with a big bottle of mineral water in different parts of his body, forcing him to admit to the things he was accused of.
Religion
