Police who carried out the “Bloody Sunday” massacre in Southern Tagalog last week committed abuse of authority in conducting their brutal operations that killed nine activists, relatives of the victims said in a press briefing on March 12, pointing out patterns of dubious actions done by law enforcers.

Speaking for the first time in front of the media, the victims’ relatives, most of whom were present when their kin were either arrested or killed, revealed that the raiding team forced their way into their houses without presenting a search warrant beforehand. It was the exact experience narrated by Anna Baez, wife of activist Lino Baez of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) in Batangas. 

“Kapag daw di namin binuksan [yung pinto] e babarilin kami. Sinabi ko na antayin muna namin yung barangay para may witness,” said Anna Baez, recalling the raid which took place at around 5 a.m., March 7. As of writing, authorities are still looking for her husband.

“Binuksan ko at pumasok yung mga pulis sa loob [ng bahay] at nagtagal sila roon. Mga isang oras sila roon bago dumating yung taga-barangay, at saka lang pumasok yung mag-se-search,” Anna Baez said.

Marife Valdeavilla, a volunteer for Defend Yulo Farmers, told a similar story. She said the police instructed them to lie on the floor while law enforcers snooped their office in Calamba, Laguna. Half an hour later, the police presented a search warrant, along with the “recovered” .45 caliber handgun supposedly owned by BAYAN-Laguna spokesperson Elizabeth Camoral.

“Yun ay tanim ebidensya,” Valdeavilla said. “Nung pinadapa kami, hinala ko na doon nila (pulis) nailagay yung mga ebidensya. Kami po ay walang ganun—tumutulong lang kami sa mga magsasaka. Wala kaming itinatagong mga baril.”

Planting evidence during police operations is not new. Law enforcers have used this tactic during the government’s anti-narcotics campaign, where guns bearing identical serial numbers were repeatedly recovered in separate operations. Though the planting of evidence is punishable by reclusion perpetua under the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, such cases rarely lead to prosecution.

Suspicious search warrants

Aside from the questionable raids, victims’ families and legal teams also raised suspicions about the search warrants used. In the case of the slain couple Chai and Ariel Evangelista, their search warrant indicated the wrong address.

“Nakarinig na lang sila ng kalabog sa dingding, pinadapa ang mag-asawa, at kinaladkad patungo dun sa unang bahay na pinuntahan ng pulis,” said Kyle Salgado, a paralegal for Karapatan Southern Tagalog and a member of the fact-finding mission deployed in Batangas. “Dun na sila pinaslang, at ginawa ito para ma-legitimize yung [operation] dahil yun yung [address] na nakalagay sa search warrant e.”

In the case of slain BAYAN-Cavite coordinator Manny Asuncion, his search warrant erroneously determined another town. Asuncion was killed at the Workers’ Assistance Center (WAC) office in Dasmariñas, Cavite, yet the location indicated in his search warrant was his residence address in Rosario, Cavite.

Search warrants must “particularly [describe] the place to be searched," following Section 2 of the Bill of Rights in the 1987 Constitution. Any search conducted in a location other than the address specified in a warrant, hence, is illegal.

Police officers said they chased Asuncion until they reached Dasmariñas—about 20 kilometers away. Jerry Caristia, another paralegal involved in the probe of Asuncion’s killing, however, refuted this claim. Initial reports showed that Asuncion, along with other staff of the WAC, was sleeping inside the office when authorities conducted the raid and killed him.

“Laging two rounds yung nangyayari sa mga search. Una yung paglagay ng ebidensya, ikalawa yung pag-serve ng search warrant para magmukhang legitimate,” Salgado added. “Ito ang tinatawag na culture of impunity. Yung mga talagang maysala, nakakalaya, habang itong mga aktibista, nagdurusa at pinagbibintangang terorista.”

Seeking accountability, reforms

Groups have yet to determine the actual cause of death for the nine activists killed pending the autopsy of the remains. For those who were jailed, the legal battle has already started.

The key to freeing the nabbed activists is to immediately question the validity of the search warrants and their subsequent arrest, said lawyer Kristina Conti of the Public Interest Law Center in a March 8 media briefing. Through an omnibus motion to quash, lawyers plan to avoid going through lengthy trials by trying to throw out the issued search warrants against the victims.

The consequence to a granted motion to quash is tantamount to saying that the search warrants were issued illegally. Hence, any recovered “evidence” could not be used against the jailed activists. In effect, this dismisses the case, added Conti, citing the legal route they took in successfully freeing journalist Lady Ann Salem.

“Mayroong anomalya hindi lang dun sa implementation [ng search warrant], kundi mayroon din doon sa pag-a-apply ng search warrant,” stated lawyer Josalee Deinla of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers. “Maraming pagkakataon na sa iisang araw ay isang set ng mga search warrant and ini-issue ng mga [Quezon City and Manila City judges] batay [rin] sa iisang set ng mga ebidensya, aplikante, at testigo.”

Legal counsels believe this fresh set of cases and attacks against activists should put pressure on the Supreme Court to hold accountable judges behind the wholesale issuance of search warrants, otherwise known as “warrant factories.”

The high court needs to revise policies which give Manila and Quezon City judges the authority to dole out search warrants virtually anywhere in the country, according to the groups. Clearly, as in the case of the “Bloody Sunday” killings, such powers have been abused to go after known progressive individuals and organizations.

“Kailangang mag-step in ng iba’t ibang bahagi ng gobyerno natin kung paano ba talaga masolusyunan, hindi lang yung abuso, kundi yung outright violations of constitutional rights, protocols, and rules,” Conti said. ●

This article was first published online on March 16, 2021.