Philippines: cops disguised as deliverymen tried to arrest prominent WHRD with a null warrant
Event- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jul 7, 2020
- Event Description
An official of human rights group Karapatan said a policeman wearing the uniform of a local courier company tried to serve her a warrant of arrest on Tuesday.
�Is this the usual procedure now?� Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said in a Facebook post.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Palabay recalled that she even found it �funny� at first that an LBC courier would serve her the warrant. The man was wearing a shirt and ID bearing the company's name, which later turned out to be a clear case of misrepresentation, she said.
She asked the man to wait for her to get the court order recalling her arrest warrant. When she returned, another man, wearing civilian clothes, introduced himself as a policeman from Camp Karingal, headquarters of the Quezon City Police District.
They later admitted that one of them masqueraded as an LBC courier to make sure she gets the warrant.
Palabay told them that the court had the warrant recalled on April 29 after she posted an ?18,000 bail. This is in connection with the perjury complaint filed against her and other activists by National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr.
Palabay said her legal counsel has already informed the court about the incident.
Palabay said the policemen were �apologetic,� saying they did not know about the recall. She also told them that they should read the Miranda rights before arresting someone, but the policemen said the suspects would escape if they do that.
Philippine National Police Spokesperson Bernard Banac told CNN Philippines he will refer Palabay�s report to Camp Karingal �for their action and appropriate response.�
Palabay called on the public to know and assert their rights, noting that these are "dangerous times" following signing of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The controversial measure allows the warrantless detention of suspected terrorists for up to 24 days.
Critics fear that the law can be used to go after red-tagged individuals and human rights defenders, while government officials say the measure has enough safeguards.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO staff
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 14.652412620681213
Longitude: 121.0508140551917
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 7 July 2020, Cristina Palabay, WHRD and NGO worker, received cops disguised as deliverymen who tried to arrest her with a null warrant in Quezon City, the Philippines.