The paralegal who was arrested for “taking and removing without authority” Randall Echanis’ body from the Quezon City police has tested positive for COVID-19, Anakpawis announced last night.
Read: Veteran activist stabbed to death in Quezon City by suspected cops
Anakpawis said in a statement that Pao Colabres was infected with the coronavirus after he was “illegally nabbed and detained for more than a week” by the authorities. The organization said it was the police’s fault that Colabres fell ill as a result of allegedly “putting him in a congested jail with potential Covid-positive inmates.”
Read: Police snatched corpse of slain activist Randall Echanis, says wife
The cops “did not only endanger the health of Colabres, but also the entire prison population,” Anakpawis said.
Echanis, the former chair of Anakpawis, was brutally killed in his rented Novaliches home earlier this month allegedly by government forces. His death resulted in a tug-of-war between the Philippine National Police and his family after cops snatched his body from his wake, releasing it only after it was determined that the corpse really belonged to Echanis.
Colabres was arrested without a warrant on Aug. 11 because he took Echanis’ corpse from Pink Petals Funeral Parlor—where the Quezon City police brought it after snatching it away from the activist’s family—to another funeral home. Colabres was charged for obstruction of justice because his action allegedly delayed the investigation of the case. He also supposedly lied to the police that he was authorized by the government to take Echanis’ body.
He was released from jail seven days later after posting a bail of PHP36,000 (US$742). He is currently in isolation and is receiving treatment.
