Evidence planted on NDFP consultant, Karapatan says

MANILA, Philippines — Rights group Karapatan accused the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of planting evidence on National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultant Rafael Baylosis and his companion.

“Living up to their infamous reputation of being fascist scriptwriters, the Philippine National Police’s CIDG has once again proven the repressive, deceitful and detestable anatomy of our police force,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said in a statement Tuesday.

She said the arrest is part of the police's "overused modus operandi of illegally arresting persons without warrant, falsely claiming in flagrante delicto (in the act of a wrongdoing) and then curing said arrest by planting evidence."

Palabay said officers did not show Baylosis and Guillermo Roque a warrant when they were arrested. Police have said the two were apprehended in a surveillance operation in response to reports of suspicious-looking men on the corner of Katipunan Road and Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City.

READ: NDFP denounces illegal arrest of consultant

A police report stated Baylosis and Roque had guns tucked in their waists when they were arrested by a team of police and military operatives. The CIDG kater said that Baylosis had a grenade hidden in a sack of brown rice.

Last Friday, Rachel Pastores, Baylosis’ lawyer, also said the initial charge against her client was illegal possession of firearms but that police planted a grenade on him to make the charge non-bailable.

“Not only are the CIDG and state forces in general experts at fabricating the truth, they are also adept in planting evidence in people’s belongings. Outperforming the proponents of the tanim-bala modus operandi, the CIDG has perfected the art of tanim-bala and tanim-bomba, complete with a fictional tale to complete their false claims,” Palabay said.

Senior Superintendent Wilson Asueta, chief of the CIDG in the National Capital Region, said last week that police did not know who Baylosis and Roque were but were only responding to a report from an informant that there were armed men in the area.

Philippine National Police Director General Ronald Dela Rosa has also dismissed claims of evidence being planted. He said claiming planted evidence is a common defense among suspects.

READ: Baylosis arrest part of crackdown on dissent, supporters say

Baylosis and Roque were arrested on January 31 along Katipunan Road in Quezon City.

Baylosis was the first consultant to be rearrested since President Rodrigo Duterte canceled peace talks with communist rebels and declared the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing NPA as terrorist groups last year.

He was released in 2016 to join the peace talks.

EXPLAINER: Why Duterte's 'red-baiting' of activists is dangerous