Cops violated rights of ‘Tagaytay 5,’ says CHR

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has found policemen involved in the case of the so-called Tagaytay 5 “guilty” of abduction, unlawful arrest and arbitrary detention, and urged the filing of appropriate charges against them.

In a resolution issued over the weekend, the CHR-National Capital Region (CHR-NCR) recommended the case to be forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman for the filing of possible criminal and administrative charges against Superintendent Rhodel Sermonia and PO1s Alvaro Amba Jr., Eugene Arellano, Marvin Mejia, Rommel Dimaala, and April Jo Ambajia, among others.

The resolution stemmed from the complaint filed by Enrico Ybanez, Michael Mesayes, Aristedes Sarmiento, Axel Alejandro Pinpin, and Ariel Custodio, also known as “Tagaytay 5,” against the law enforcers.

In its resolution, the CHR-NCR said the policemen violated the human rights of the complainants, specifically Article 9 and 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on “the right to liberty and security of persons.”

“Everyone has the right to liberty and security of persons. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law,” the resolution stated.

“All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person,” it added.

The five complainants, who are peasant leaders, organizers and advocates associated with the Katipunan ng mga Magsasaka sa Kabite and the Cavite Farmers Consultative Council, were “forcibly abducted” on the early evening of April 28, 2006 reportedly by around 40 heavily armed men while traveling along Ligaya Drive in Barangay Sungay, Tagaytay City.

The “heavily armed men” were later said to be members of the Cavite police under Sermonia, and the Philippine Navy Intelligence and Security Force.

In its website, the Cavite Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace said the five were blindfolded and hogtied for seven days while being “involuntarily interrogated without the aid of a legal counsel, physically harmed and repeatedly threatened with electrocution and summary execution, held incommunicado in various military and police camps and safehouses, and deliberately hidden from their relatives.”