The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 220 today ordered the arrest of Kara Levina Taggaoa, a Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) international officer and a student from the UP Diliman College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP), as well as Helari Valbuena, president of Pasiklab Operators and Drivers Association (PASODA).

The police filed robbery charges against Taggaoa and Valbuena due to a mobilization they organized last July 11, 2020, at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) office to denounce the passing of the Anti-Terror Law. The judge set the bail at P100,000 each for their temporary liberty

Freedom parks, like the CHR’s office, do not require a permit before a protest action can be held, according to the Public Assembly Act. The same law prohibits officers from being armed while in the vicinity of a mobilization.

The complainant, Police Chief Master Sergeant Feliciano Evangelio of Quezon City Police Department claimed that protesters inflicted injury on the officers and robbed them. No further details regarding the alleged robbery were indicated in the warrant.

“Malinaw yung pattern sa mga pag-atake. Magsasampa sila ng gawa-gawang kaso tapos ibabasura rin dahil peke at walang ebidensya. Pero dahil sa bulok na sistema, mabubulok muna sila sa kulungan bago makakita ng hustisya. Ilang beses na natin itong nakita, pero hinahayaan lang ng Department of Justice at ng Supreme Court,” Ivan Sucgang, chairperson of the League of Filipino Students (LFS), said in a statement.

Taggaoa was a former national spokesperson of the LFS. Her role in the organization made her a target of harassment and attacks, with some even branding her, without any basis, as an armed rebel. Valbuena, meanwhile, spoke during the mobilization, on behalf of transport groups.

Both Taggaoa and Valbuena were not informed beforehand of the complaints against them. A copy of the warrant publicized showed that the court ordered the two’s arrest as early as December 2021—nearly 18 months since the July 2020 mobilization was held.

“Nananawagan ang Kilusang Mayo Uno na mariing kundenahin at biguin ang panibagong atake na ito sa mga lingkod-bayan. Isa na namang modus ng estado na gamitin ang batas para takutin at iharass ang mga lider ng progresibong grupo,” labor group KMU said in a statement. •

Editor’s note: Financial support for Taggaoa and Valbuena’s bail may be coursed through:

BDO

Account name: Kilusang Mayo Uno

Account number: 001490187039

GCASH

Joanne Cesario

09612067348

Note: For Kara and Larry