Justice sought for unlikely communist rebel in jail
A loving mother, peace and development advocate and dear friend of various calamity survivors in Negros Island, Rogina N. Quilop, our administrative and finance officer, was arrested for the second time by elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP-CIDG) on Feb. 7. Both the first and second arrests surprised everyone: Quilop, as everybody knows, aside from being a religious person and formerly a church worker at the Diocese of Bacolod, is a very law-abiding citizen. In fact, she is a dutiful citizen, performing her civic obligations, like voting in every local and national election in the country. She is also a peace advocate and among those clamoring for the resumption of the peace talks.
The first arrest happened on March 1, 2011, for an arson case in March 2008; she was released in July of the same year for lack of evidence and credible witness. The second arrest was for the murder of a military officer on March 7, 2010.
Archie Baribar, counsel for Quilop, in a letter sent to Police S/Supt. Francisco M. Esguerra, the regional CIDG chief, demanded her immediate release, stating that the continued restriction on his client’s liberty may amount to a violation of Article 124 (arbitrary detention) or Article 269 (unlawful arrest) of the Revised Penal Code.
The Center for People’s Resources and Services (CPRS) attests that Quilop, as its development worker since 2009 and as manager of the Negros Farmer’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Barangay Ma-ao, Bago City, Negros Occidental, since 2010, is totally innocent of the accusations against her, and that she is not a communist rebel, contrary to allegations by the military and the police.
CPRS, an NGO assisting communities on disaster preparedness and management, protests the usual red-baiting and harassment committed by the military against development workers from the time of former presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III, up to the present Duterte administration. Development workers assist government in providing services to the people.
Sometimes, we do criticize government policies, believing that in a truly democratic system of government, people should be involved in policymaking for the good of the country and the citizenry; they should in fact be encouraged to contribute to the free market of ideas where anybody may voice their views, rather than be persecuted through the military’s red-baiting tactics.
Quilop’s continued imprisonment is in essence an ongoing, day-by-day injustice committed by the PNP-CIDG and Armed Forces of the Philippines not only against her person but also against her husband and, more so, against her children who, in their tender age, suffer most at the sight of their innocent mother unjustly incarcerated in miserable jail conditions, in the company of common criminals—a traumatic experience that might take a lifetime to heal.
Thus, in the name of truth and justice, and out of concern for a loving mother, peace and development advocate and dear friend of calamity survivors, the loving friends, supporters and relatives of Rogina N. Quilop humbly call on President Duterte, as the head of our beloved country, for her immediate release.
SUSIE TAPI-ON, executive director, Center for People’s Resources and Services
