Karapatan calls for release of environmental defender in Quezon province
KARAPATAN Public Information
Press Release
15 June 2022
References:
Cristina Palabay, Karapatan Secretary General, +639173162831
Karapatan Public Information Desk, +639189790580
Rights
group calls for release of environmental defender in Quezon province
Rights
group Karapatan condemned the arrest of Daisy Macapanpan last week,
and called for the immediate release of the environmental defender,
calling her “a victim of the state’s crackdown against activists,
which continues towards the end of the Duterte regime.”
“We
call for the immediate release of Daisy Macapanpan, a victim of
warrantless arrest and unjust detention based on false charges, which
are seen as reprisals on her advocacy work for the environment and
her community,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina
Palabay.
On June 11, 2022, Macapanpan, 69, was arrested in
Pakil, Laguna by combined elements of PNP Special Action Force,
Quezon Provincial Police Office, Laguna Provincial Police Office,
Police Regional Mobile Force Battalion 4A, Philippine Air Force and
Philippine Army.
According to witness accounts, Macapanpan
was dragged, handcuffed and forced inside the police mobile in full
view of residents in the town of Pakil, Laguna. The police and
military did not present any warrant to Macapanpan during her arrest.
It was only when she was at the Quezon Provincial Police Office in
Camp Gen. Nakar, Lucena City when she learned that rebellion charges
for an incident in Infanta, Quezon were filed against her.
“This
alias warrant on rebellion charges filed in 2008 against Macapanpan
was used against other activists in Southern Tagalog,” said
Palabay. The rebellion case, filed before the Regional Trial Court
Branch 65 in Infanta, Quezon was the same case levelled against
peasant organizer Dana Marcellana, daughter of peasant leader Orly
Marcellana and slain human rights worker Eden Marcellana, who was
arrested last year.
“At
this rate, this rebellion charge may be used repeatedly against
activists in Southern Tagalog as the government continues its
harassment against activists and government critics,” said
Palabay.
As of this writing, Macapanpan remains detained
at Camp General Nakar. Macapanpan is a former professor, media
practitioner and cultural worker. In recent years, she has actively
campaigned against the Kaliwa Kanan Laiban Dam megadam project in
Sierra Madre, which is said to affect communities in Laguna, Quezon,
and Rizal.
The elderly environmental advocate is also
involved in the campaign against the construction of the 1400MW
Ahunan/Pakil Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant on top of the
mountain in Pakil, Laguna, which is part of the watershed of the
Sierra Madre mountain range.
“Following
the mass arrests of farmers in Tarlac, and amid the preparations for
Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s inauguration including restrictions on
rallies and mass actions, we believe that this policy of repression
and terror will continue under the new government. Nevertheless, we
will continue to call and work for Macapanpan’s release and that of
all political prisoners who face trumped up charges and other forms
of attacks,” Palabay said. #
PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign.