Albayalde advises 4 activist leaders not to resist arrest; welcomes R1M bounty
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Director General Oscar Albayalde yesterday expressed hopes that the four militant leaders who are currently being hunted for murder charges will not resist arrest and just surrender to authorities for their own safety.
Albayalde also welcomed the P1-million reward put up by private group Citizen's Crime Watch (CCW) to hasten the judicial process in the murder charges involving National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Secretary Liza Maza, former Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, and former Bayan Muna Partylist representatives Satur Ocampo and Teddy Casino.
However, he clarified that the reward is not a "dead-or-alive bounty" but compensation for intelligence information that could lead to the arrest of the wanted activists.
"Huwag naman sana mangyari 'yung sinasabi na lumaban although wala naman silang history na ganyan (I hope they would not resist arrest although they don't have a history of doing so). Hopefully, they just give themselves up," Albayalde said.
"The reward of P1 million for information leading to the arrest of Satur Ocampo, Rafael Mariano, Liza Maza, and Teodoro Casiño should encourage would-be informants to provide relevant information on the whereabouts of these wanted persons. Although the reward offer is not officially part of the government reward program, I must clarify that this is not a dead or alive bounty but monetary compensation for information provided," he added.
An opposition lawmaker and militant group leader couldn't help but raise their eyebrows on the reward offered by the CCW as they said a motion to dismiss the case was already filed which was not objected by the prosecutors.
Bayan Muna Party-list Representative Carlos Zarate earlier slammed the reward and said it was a "cheap political stunt and vendetta" while Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes said it was a "lame publicity stunt."
Albayalde, for his part, said they are only doing their jobs in effecting the arrest of the four wanted leaders since the court already issued a warrant.
Although there is no indication from the four wanted persons that they would surrender anytime soon, Albayalde said they could not immediately jump to conclusion that it is already a sign of guilt.
"We cannot speculate on that because that's their own decision. Probably they fear for their lives and we respect that," he stated.
"At any rate, I would like to reiterate our appeal to the concerned individuals to turn themselves in and face the issue squarely before the bar of justice," he said.
The four activist leaders were ordered arrested due to their alleged involvement in the killings of supposed Bayan Muna supporters who cut ties and pledged allegiance to its rival group, Akbayan several years ago.
The murder cases were filed by the relatives of the victims in 2006.
Meanwhile, at the House of Representatives, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said yesterday it is not involved in the revival of murder charges against the four former partylist lawmakers.
At yesterday’s House Committee on Appropriations budget briefing, Secretary Menardo Guevarra assured lawmakers that there is no selective prosecution of certain individuals or groups.
Guevara said the DOJ "has not participated at all” in matters involving the Inter-Agency Legal Action Committee (IALAC), formerly the Inter-Agency Legal Advisory Group (IALAG) which brought up the 12-year old murder case. IALAG was set up during the term of former President and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“This case pending before the RTC in Nueva Ecija since 2006 and the RTC has acquired jurisdiction of the case… It issued a warrant recently and their motion for reconsideration is now submitted for resolution,” Guevarra said. “As a matter of fact, it issued this warrant of arrest recently. We understand the accused already filed their MR and this MR has already been submitted for resolution by the court,” he added. (With a report from Charissa M. Luci-Atienza)