Left’s wing clipped
Included among those summoned were members of Anakbayan Morayta-Far Eastern University chapter whom complainant Relissa Lucena said recruited her daughter, Alicia Jasper, to join their group
Militant leaders are livid after the Department of Justice (DoJ) issued subpoenas to them as respondents in a case filed by the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on behalf of a mother whose minor daughter allegedly went missing after being recruited in school to join a communist front organization.
Summoned to appear before the DoJ were former Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Neri Colmenares, Kabataan partylist Rep. Sarah Elago, Anakbayan
partylist spokesman Alex Danday and former Akbayan partylist Rep. Tom Villarin.
Also ordered to appear before the Justice department were Charie del Rosario, Bianca Gacos, Jayroven Villafuente Balais, Vencer Crisostomo and Einstein Recedes.
Elago denounced what she claimed as trumped up kidnapping charges filed against her and the other leftist lawmakers.
She insisted the case was “another attempt to sow terror and cause division among all those who exercise their civil and political rights.”
Anakbayan prefers children
Included among those summoned were members of Anakbayan Morayta-Far Eastern University chapter, whom complainant Relissa Lucena said recruited her daughter, Alicia Jasper, to join their group a year ago when the latter was still a 17-year-old senior high school student.
The subpoena was signed by Assistant State Prosecutor Christine Perolino who had set a hearing on 27 August, 10 and 24 September.
Anakbayan, the PNP-CIDG complaint said, is “an organization advocating violence in order to overthrow a legitimate government.”
The charges alleged violation of Republic Act 10364 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003; kidnapping; the laws on special protection of children in armed conflicts; and laws prohibiting child abuse.
Among the witnesses were rebel returnees Ma. Rebecca Pecayo and Edison Villanueva, who said they were recruited into the New People’s Army (NPA) through initial indoctrination by front youth groups.
The NPA is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Philippines.
Anakbayan is an organization advocating violence in order to overthrow a legitimate government.
The NPA is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Philippines.
Red in anger
Villarin, for his part, told the Daily Tribune that the case “is a desperate attempt by the Duterte administration to stifle all freedoms including that of the right to organize and engage in peaceful concerted activities.”