DAVAO CITY – Human Rights group Karapatan has claimed that President Benigno Aquino III has no intention to talk peace with the National Democratic Front (NDF) saying that the detention of NDF’s peace consultants is an indication of the government’s sincerity to the peace process.
In a press release of Karapatan, Palabay claims that President Aquino “prolongs the detention of NDF peace consultants Leopoldo Calozo and Renante Gamara”.
Caloza, 58, was detained for nine years now at Camp Bagong Diwa, while Gamara, is detained at Camp Crame Custodial Center for three years.
Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general said that Caloza was charged with twenty two (22) trumped-up cases.
“As (Calozo) endured years of detention 21 charges have been dismissed. But on August 11, at the Special Intensive Care Area – 1 of Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, he was served different warrants of arrest for a murder and an attempted murder charge,” said Palabay.
“These charges have long been archived by the San Jose Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 39, the murder charge in 1994 and attempted murder charge in 2005,” she said.
Regarding Gamara’s case, Palabay said that the Taguig RTC Branch 266 denied his motion to repeal the charges against him; kidnapping and murder charges, which Palabay claims to be falsely accused to him and other NDF consultants and other political prisoners.
She added that “two other trumped-up cases, murder and frustrated murder filed at the Infanta, Quezon RTC are also being heard at the pre-trial stage. The complainant-witness on this case, PFC Ronald Bamba, allegedly heard NPA members do a roll call after an ambush operation and heard more than 20 names, including Gamara’s and other names of political prisoners.”
“The (Aquino administration) obviously has no intent to talk peace with the NDFP,” Palabay said.
“They would rather bail out plunderers like Senator Juan Ponce Enrile than release peace consultants, even based on the merits of their cases, which are all trumped-up,” she said.(davaotoday.com)
