Radioman-activist claims harassment by Army soldiers
An activist of Bayan Muna working in the Bicol region has claimed being harassed by Army soldiers, barely a week after a United Nations rapporteur visited the country to assess freedom of expression in the country.
Vince Casilihan, who is also a commentator at a radio station in Legazpi City, provincial capital of Albay, claimed in a Facebook post on Thursday that he was approached earlier that day by two men who introduced themselves as “Cpl. (Corporal) Señar” and “Cpl. Ongo” of the Army.
They then told him that he was invited by a certain “Sgt. Jaranillo” to a meeting, he said.
‘Speaking tour’
“There was no letter of invitation and I asked what we will talk about, they said it was nothing in particular,” said Casilihan, who also posted CCTV footage showing the two men wearing only civilian clothes.
Bayan Muna chair Neri Colmenares issued a statement on Friday saying he “condemned in the strongest terms [Casilihan’s] harassment [by] the Philippine Army.”
According to the former lawmaker, Casilihan was involved in a “speaking tour” in the Bicol region against Charter change.
“And now military operatives are harassing him,” Colmenares said.
“This is highly condemnable and runs counter to the recommendations of United Nations Special Rapporteur [on Freedom of Expression and Opinion] Irene Khan against the continuing harassment of media practitioners [and the] curtailment of freedom of expression and opinion,” he added.
Khan left the Philippines on Feb. 3, after concluding a 10-day inquiry into the human rights situation in the country, particularly as it affects the media.
She recommended, among other things, that the government abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which she described as an “outdated” agency.
Its abolition, she said, would “address some of the most critical drivers of Red-tagging [and] allow this administration to modernize peace-building approaches.”
‘Assassinations’
Apart from Red-tagging, Bayan Muna activists had been “assassinated by suspected government agents,” Colmenares said, citing the murders of Randy Malayao and Neptali Morada in 2019 and of Jory Porquia in 2020. Malayao was also a consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
“We are urging the Marcos Jr. administration not to follow the fascist practices of the Duterte regime and stop the harassment and attacks on activists. If anything untoward happens to Vince then we know who the culprits are,” Colmenares said. —JACOB LAZARO
