sino ang ungas ngayon!
mula sa gma-news:
Affidavit vs ‘Davao 8′ withdrawn; settlement seen
The paper said the retraction was part of an "amicable settlement," in exchange for administrative charges filed by the militants against Police Officer Franco Duca and Chief Insp. Rex Rodriguez at the Peoples’ Law Enforcement Board (PLEB).
"Cleared" by the retraction were Ariel Casilao (Bayan), Luz Ilagan (Gabriela), Jeppie Ramada (Bayan Muna), Omar Bantayan (Kilusang Mayo Uno), Tonying Flores (Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas), Editha Duterte (Kadamay), Corazon Espinosa (Samakana), and Lorie Ann Cascaro (AnakBayan youth sector).
Duca and Rodriguez are personnel of the Criminal Investigation and Detention Group (CIDG) who executed an affidavit in March last year, linking the eight to the rebellion and inciting-to-sedition charges filed against Bayan Muna Rep. Joel Virador.
Police included the eight as secondary respondents in the rebellion charge against Virador and four other militant leaders now called the "Batasan 5" following the declaration of a state of national emergency on Feb. 24 last year.
Duca and Rodriguez claimed that on Feb. 24 last year, Virador and the eight conducted a march-protest and conspired to topple the Arroyo government.
In agreeing to the amicable settlement, the militants gave two conditions that included a public apology and striking off the affidavit from the DOJ’s records.
Casilao said Monday that the two policemen retracted their affidavit and apologized to the respondents on Jan. 26.
But the apology and retraction statement were not addressed to Ilagan and Bantayan.
Casilao said the two, who have different lawyers, filed their complaints with PLEB on a later date. He said the officers have manifested that a separate retraction and apology will be executed for Ilagan and Bantayan.
In their retraction, the two police personnel said they regretted causing inconvenience in filing the affidavit on March 7.
They said they realized that "human memory and perception have limits, including our capacity to translate into precise words what we had actually seen."
The two officers then said their narration of details, as well as the respondents’ possible involvement in the mass actions of Feb. 24, "may be plausibly inaccurate" and apologized for their "imperfections" and attested that no criminal complaint has been filed in relation to the affidavit.
Casilao said the retraction, the first in the group’s legal battle against so-called harassments nationwide, is a blow to the government’s tagging of the progressive organizations as "communist fronts."
He said the move is a vindication for the militant leaders who cried indignation over the charges. He said from the start they have already warned the CIDG personnel that the charges will boomerang.
Casilao said they were accused of rebellion when they were only exercising their right to freedom of expression in the march protest. - GMANews.TV
