Police, military: Missing Piston leader not with us

ANGELES CITY — Both the police and the military insisted yesterday that a transport leader who went missing after he, together with six others, was arrested here last week is not in their custody.

Senior Superintendent Policarpio Segubre, city police chief, told The STAR that Emerlito Lipio, an officer of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (PISTON) in Bulacan, could be in the hands of the military.

But Lt. Col. Ricardo Visaya, commander of the Army’s 69th Infantry Battalion which took part in the arrest, said he was not aware of Lipio’s whereabouts.

Visaya said the Bulacan-based 56th Infantry Battalion headed by Lt. Col. Noel Clement was the one which spearheaded the operation and his group merely served as blocking force.

The STAR tried to call up Clement through his cellular phone but failed.

Lipio, together with Piston regional officers Jose Ramos, William Aguilar, Jose Bernardino, Fernando Poblacio Jr., Jay Francis Aquino, and Archie de Jesus, was forcibly taken at about noon of July 3 from the house of De Jesus in Barangay Malabanias here. A grenade was allegedly found in the group’s possession.

Segubre said the military had Lipio in its order of battle based on intelligence reports that he is a ranking New People’s Army (NPA) member in Bulacan.

Visaya said the 56th IB, which had tailed Lipio from Bulacan to De Jesus’ house, contacted his battalion to provide support.

"I didn’t even know who Lipio was since he was based outside my jurisdiction in Bulacan. It was actually the operation of the 56th IB and what we did was to merely provide a blocking force in case the targets were armed," he said.

Visaya belied reports that he led his men during the operation, saying he was in Arayat, Pampanga at that time. 

Segubre said the police had nothing to do with Lipio since their role was to merely file charges against those arrested based on the military’s complaint.

Lipio, however, was not named in the complaint. Charges of illegal possession of an explosive were filed against Ramos, Bernardino, Poblacio, and Aquino. Aguilar and De Jesus were released two days later.

"It’s the police, not the military, that is authorized to file formal charges in such cases, so we did our role," he said.

While Lipio was among the seven transport leaders brought to the police headquarters, Segubre said he had no knowledge of what happened to him later.

"The military could have brought him with them for further interrogation," he said.

Karapatan-Gitnang Luson, a human rights group, reported that Lipio was missing after his family failed to locate him at the police headquarters.

Karapatan said the seven were all members of the regional council of PISTON.

"The military and police barged into their meeting place at De Jesus’ house while they were having coffee in preparation for their meeting on how to (cope with) the present economic crisis due to unabated oil price increases, as well as on the rights of drivers to organize and protest," it said.

Karapatan said the 56th and 69th IBs, both under the command of Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, and the police are "answerable for the violation of human rights committed against the seven victims."

"Our Constitution provides the right not to be arrested except on evidence that a crime has been committed, and that one may be arrested only on the strength of a warrant issued by a judge," it said.

Segubre, however, defended the military, saying the arrest was part of a continuing anti-insurgency operation of government troops in Bulacan.

He added that the military could have other records against the suspects.