3 MIN READ

By KIMBERLIE QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — It took the officers of the Quezon City Police District 15 minutes to bring to Camp Karingal and place under their custody the two labor rights defenders they accosted at the Quezon City Justice Hall on October 10. But it took them four hours to process their release after receiving a Court order on October 11. 

Despite receiving the release order at around 2:45 PM, Kara Taggaoa, 24, international affairs officer of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), and Larry Valbuena, 62, president of Pasiklab Operators and Drivers Association (PASODA) were finally released at around 5:45 PM yesterday, October 11.

KMU Chairperson Elmer Labog said he could not understand why the police took that long to implement a court order. “The court order was clear, and I see no reason for the police to keep our colleagues that long if only for some ministerial processes,” he said in Filipino.

Labog spoke during a picket at the gates of Camp Karingal on October 11 to demand for the immediate release of the two labor leaders.  

Police arrested Taggaoa and Valbuena without a warrant for direct assault charges right after their arraignment for a robbery case on October 10. 

The cases against Taggaoa and Valbuena stemmed from a complaint filed by a police intelligence officer, who claimed that the duo assaulted him and took his gun during a demonstration on the Anti-Terror Law in 2020. 

According to KMU, the two did not receive any subpoena from the Office of the Prosecutor in Quezon City and were not given any chance to participate in preliminary investigations against these complaints. 

Labog reiterated that the charges filed against the two are but trumped-up charges. “We do not believe that the charges filed against them are true, these cases are obviously trumped-up charges, and is part of the political persecution against labor rights defenders,” he added. 

Both labor leaders have been subjected to red-tagging and harassment before the filing of the cases. 

Taggaoa and Valbuena had to post a P36,000 bail each for the direct assault to be allowed temporary freedom while their case is being heard in court. Both have earlier posted P100,000 bail each for the robbery charges. 

Drop all charges

National and international labor groups urged authorities to drop all cases against the two labor rights defenders. They also called on UN bodies to investigate the attacks against trade unionists in the Philippines and other countries in Asia and the Pacific countries.  

In a joint statement, KMU, Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), Labor Right Defenders Network (LARD), and Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law, and Development (APWLD) urged the UN Committee on Freedom of Association and Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders to investigate the attacks against trade unionists and labor rights defenders in the Philippines and other countries in the Asia Pacific. 

The said labor groups also called on the Philippine government and authorities to drop all the charges and stop all the attacks against Taggaoa and Valbuena and all other labor and human rights defenders. They further urged the government to fulfill its obligations under the International Labor Organization Convention No. 87 on the right to organize and collective bargaining of workers.

In a separate statement, the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR) also called for the junking of the charges against the two labor leaders. 

CWR said the arrest and detention of Taggaoa and Valbuena run counter to the government’s claims during the 51st Session of the UN Human Rights Council that it will “inject human rights into every step of our law enforcement and judicial processes”. 

“Instead of demonstrating concrete steps to address the spate of human rights violations and hold perpetrators to account, it is business as usual in its relentless attacks against rights defenders,” the CWR stated. # nordis.net