KMP mulls filing writ of habeas data for militant

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and relatives of militant leader Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis are eyeing to take advantage of the newly released writ of habeas data in order to compel the Armed Forces of the Philippines to reveal all information it has about the arrested activist.

KMP chairman Rafael Mariano said AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon has been claiming that Echanis is the brain of urban partisan operations and head of the Military Commission of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

He also said that the AFP has also been claiming that Echanis, who is external deputy secretary general of the KMP, is a member of the Central Committee of the CPP and that there is a P5 million reward for his capture.

“All these are false and it is obvious that Esperon is trying to demonize Ka Randy, to justify his illegal arrest and to hide the fact that they are just making everything up,” Mariano said.

“According to our lawyers, the AFP have no solid evidence whatsoever on Ka Randy, they are just harassing him and the KMP for our continued criticism of the Macapagal-Arroyo regime and our push for the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (House Bill 3059),” he added.

Moreover, Echanis’ son, Ranmill, expressed hope that through the writ of habeas data, which they are mulling to file together with the KMP, all the “fabricated and erroneous data” that the military had said about his father would be expunged.

Ranmill feared that the AFP is trying to build “a huge pile of lies” against his father, who was arrested on Jan. 28 at a conference in Purok Paghidait, Barangay Calumangan in Bago City, Negros Occidental.

Echanis, who is also a member of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines’ Reciprocal Working Committee (RWC) on Social and Economic Reforms, was at the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) and National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) Conference for Genuine Agrarian Reform in Bago City when arrested by authorities.