Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co condemned the subpoenas issued by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to two youth leaders for questioning over their alleged involvement in violence during the Sept. 21 anti-corruption rallies.
‘While the people are rising up against corruption, they are trying to silence us. They are quick to prosecute innocent citizens but slow to hold the corrupt accountable,’ Co said in Filipino in a statement on Wednesday.
‘We condemn this kind of repression. The only response to such treatment by the state is the people’s continued struggle in the streets,’ she added.
Co identified two of those subpoenaed as Aldrin Kitsune of the youth group Kabataan Kontra Korapsyon and Jacob Baluyot of the campus journalist alliance Alyansa ng Kabataang Mamamahayag.
In a separate statement on Tuesday night, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines also denounced the subpoena against Baluyot, saying he merely ‘covered the anti-corruption protests that day along with hundreds of student journalists.’
However, during a press briefing at Camp Crame on Wednesday, CIDG public information chief Maj. Helen dela Cruz declined to confirm whether Kitsune and Baluyot were among the four male ‘leaders with large followings’ who had been subpoenaed.
‘Witch hunt’
Asked for comment, in a phone interview with the Inquirer later on Wednesday, Kitsune confirmed police brought the CIDG’s subpoena to his Manila and Quezon City residences last Sept. 30.
But, Kitsune explained he was unable to receive the subpoena personally since he was working with human rights groups assisting the protestors detained during the Mendiola riot. He only managed to access an electronic copy over the weekend.
‘I consulted with paralegals and attorneys about this. They’re also confused. What the CIDG is doing is alarming. Shouldn’t a prosecutor or a judge issue a subpoena?’ he said partly in Filipino.
‘They make it appear like those who protested or rioted were terrorists. That’s the impression for me, which is extremely alarming, traumatizing. I’m just a film student,’ he added in a mix of Filipino and English.
Kitsune said he had been at the Luneta rally with his group since 8 a.m. and arrived in Mendiola at around 3:39 p.m.
The Mendiola program ended and the violence erupted sometime at 3:30 p.m.
Kitsune added that he will answer the CIDG soon with the support of his organizations but did not specify when.
For his part, in a separate phone interview with the Inquirer on Wednesday, Baluyot said the subpoena was dated Oct. 3 and police brought the subpoena to his Manila home last Tuesday while he was in class.
Baluyot is scheduled to appear before the CIDG on Friday.
‘Honestly, I will describe this incident as an orchestrated witch hunting sa mga youth activists at saka sa campus journalists,’ he maintained.
Will he comply with the subpoena? Baluyot answered, ‘Yes. Just to make sure and to clear things up na I’m a campus journalist that day and nothing more than that.’
‘Crimes were committed’
Asked to respond to Co’s statement, Dela Cruz defended the CIDG’s move to summon the individuals.
‘Crimes and violations were committed during the rally, as we saw that there was unrest and violence. The investigation is proper and still ongoing,’ she pointed out in a mix of Filipino and English.
Dela Cruz cited Republic Act No. 10973 as the basis for the CIDG’s authority to subpoena individuals for its investigations and to file a case before a regional trial court for indirect contempt if they fail to appear.
Dela Cruz earlier said only one of the subpoenaed individuals appeared before them last Monday.
The lone respondent, in a phone interview with reporters, identified himself as vlogger Park Alamada Pangawilan.
Pangawilan denied involvement in the riot, saying the violence had already broken out at both Ayala Bridge and the Mendiola Peace Arch when he and his group arrived from another program at Liwasang Bonifacio.
The violence erupted at the foot of Ayala Bridge and the Mendiola Peace Arch – both leading to Malacañang Palace – during and after the Baha sa Luneta rally in Rizal Park on Sept. 21.
Police arrested more than 200 rioters – including over 80 minors – amid the chaos, prompting human rights groups to condemn law enforcement for allegedly failing to exercise maximum tolerance.
The Baha sa Luneta rally, its subsequent program in Mendiola before the riot, and the Trillion Peso March were part of a series of protests denouncing government corruption amid ongoing investigations into alleged irregularities in flood control projects.