132 Kadamay members quit, file charges vs group’s leaders
Ahead of the third State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Duterte tomorrow, 132 members of urban militant group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) have opted to quit and file charges against their leaders for alleged anomaly in collecting funds for their rallies.
Senior Superintendent Chito Bersaluna, Bulacan Provincial Police chief, said the ex-Kadamay members sought the assistance of their legal office on Friday to help them file extortion charges against 17 Kadamay leaders.
Kadamay made headlines after attempting to occupy idle housing units of the National Housing Authority (NHA) in Pandi, Bulacan in May 2017.
Last month, it also attempted to take over government housing units in Rodriguez, Rizal.
"They approached our office last Friday and I asked our provincial police legal officer [Superintendent Ariel Alvarado] to assist them in filing the charges," Bersaluna told the Manila Bulletin in a phone interview Saturday.
According to Bersaluna, the complainants claimed they are filing cases against their leaders for the alleged anomalies in the collection of funds for their activities and rallies.
The complainants also told the police that they were harassed by their leaders after they left the group.
Bersaluna said this incident showed the Kadamay is slowly falling apart because of the alleged anomalies.
"Sa kanilang grupo, lumalabas na nagkakawatak-watak na sila kasi may discontent within their organization. Mayroong mga reklamo na may korapsyon at tine-threaten daw itong break away members (Within their organization, it appears they are slowly breaking apart because there is discontent. There are complaints of corruption and some break away members are being threatened)," Bersaluna explained.
Bersaluna did not confirm the identi- ties of the Kadamay leaders who were charged.
It was also not clear whether how much money was involved or extorted from the disgruntled members.
Bersaluna said Alvarado has already finished assisting the break away members in preparing the appropriate legal documents and the case was already filed on the same day before the prosecutor's office.
"Kung hindi ako nagkakamali, na-file na nila kahapon (Friday) sa Prosecutor's Office noong nagpunta sila sa Hall of Justice (If I'm not mistaken, they have already file the case yesterday [Friday] at the Prosecutor's Office when they went to the Hall of Justice)," Bersaluna said.
Furthermore, the Bulacan police chief said the break away members of Kadamay had sought the assistance of the 48th Infantry Battalion (IB) to ensure their safety and security.
This reporter has already reached out to Kadamay chairpersons Gloria Arellano and Michael Beltran for comment.