Veteran journalist Margarita Valle yesterday filed multiple complaints at the office of the Ombudsman against members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army who mistakenly arrested her in Misamis Oriental last month.
Valle accused officers of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Region 9 and the army of committing kidnapping, serious illegal detention, torture, violation of rights of arrested persons, and gross misconduct, reported Rappler.
Members of the arresting team who were named in the complaint were CIDG Police Colonels Tom Yuzon, Redentor Lantaca Retusto, John Guyguyon, and Michael Pareja; Police Brigadier General Modhin Panturan; Police Lieutenant Colonel Mardito Anguluan; and Captain Madzdie-Aziz Mukaran, among others.
Also included in her complaint is the PNP’s chief General Oscar Albayalde and its spokesman, Col. Bernard Banac, reported CNN Philippines. She alleged that Albayalde tolerated what happened to her and that he and Banac defended and justified her arrest.
The Davao City-based Valle was arrested last month in the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental for charges of multiple murder, destruction of government property, and arson. However, the police said they later learned that they had the wrong woman when a witness said that Valle only bore a strong resemblance to the subject of their warrant of arrest.
According to her 20-page complaint, Valle said that when she was arrested, the authorities did not allow her to read her arrest warrant, reported Manilla Bulletin.
The arresting party also allegedly ignored the IDs she presented and refused to answer her questions. After she was arrested, she was brought to a police station in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur. It was there where the authorities took her mugshots and fingerprints despite her telling them to Google her name so they could determine her real identity.
According to the PNP and the army, they were supposed to arrest a suspected communist rebel named Elsa Renton, who allegedly uses the aliases Tina Maglaya and Fidelina Margarita Valle. The second alias is slightly similar to the veteran journalist’s full name, Fedelina Margarita Avellanosa Valle.
The CIDG has apologized to Valle for what transpired but the journalist’s family condemned the arrest. They alleged that she was arrested because she has been protesting against what were allegedly government-sponsored human rights violations in Mindanao.
Valle has been reporting about Mindanao since she started her journalism career in the 1980s. The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines said she is also involved in community development by working with non-profit organizations that focus on peace development and environmental protection.
