Satur transferred again – to a bigger detention room

Bayan Muna Rep2. Satur Ocampo was transferred from his place of detention for the third time yesterday at the Manila Police District (MPD) headquarters, 10 days following his arrest.

Ocampo, who is facing murder charges before a Leyte court, has been transferred from the MPD’s General Assignment Section and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) to the Rizal Hall conference room.

Police, on the other hand, had to board up the glass windows of the conference room with plywood to prevent the militant lawmaker from escaping.

"The conference room has a much bigger area, almost five times bigger than our CIDU office. There he has the space to walk around. It even has its own toilet," said Superintendent Eduardo Sierra, CIDU chief.

The MPD also disallowed any protest actions in front of its headquarters or anywhere along UN Avenue.

"We have received complaints from those who came to the police station and applicants for police clearance that they had a hard time seeking police assistance," MPD acting director Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarzosa said.

Abarzosa said they advised the leaders and supporters of militant groups to hold their mass actions in designated freedom parks, not along busy streets such as UN Avenue where a sizeable number of business establishments and schools are located.

"We asked them to move to the legitimate areas; the closest is the Plaza Salamanca which is considered a freedom park. They should be placed in a safe distance," he said.

Plaza Salamanca is situated at the corner of Taft Avenue and TM Kalaw street. Another freedom park is Plaza Rueda located beside the Pearl Hotel at the corner of Taft Avenue and UN Avenue.

The demonstrators were not allowed to occupy UN Avenue since they lacked rally permits, Abarzosa pointed out.

He said the huge rallies by militant groups caused traffic congestion in the area, sparking numerous complaints from motorists and commuters.

"The purpose of this prohibition is to secure the area and to maintain peace and order," Abarzosa said.

Hours after Ocampo was arrested, the MPD closed its front gates and detailed more policemen to prevent demonstrators from slipping inside the headquarters.

Various militant groups had often staged mass actions in front of the MPD headquarters denouncing the arrest of Ocampo.

Police arrested the 67-year-old militant lawmaker last week, shortly after filing a petition questioning the validity of the murder charges against him in a Leyte court.

Ocampo went into hiding for 10 days after Hilongos, Leyte Judge Ephrem Abando issued the warrants of arrest against him and other top communist leaders for the murder of hundreds of former guerrillas suspected of being spies and informants of the military.

Ocampo, who once served as spokesman for the National Democratic Front (NDF) of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was charged with 15 counts of murder allegedly committed during a purge of suspected "spies and counter-revolutionaries" within the ranks of the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), between 1985 and 1991.

Police named Ocampo, CPP founder Jose Ma. Sison and NDF chief Luis Jalandoni as among those who ordered the purges.

Authorities have relied on the testimonies of former rebels who had survived the purges and the families of those who were killed.