Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) member Jennifer Awingan was arrested by Cordillera police earlier on the grounds of rebellion or insurrection. Awingan is currently under the custody of the Baguio City Police Intelligence Unit.
Awingan, a longtime Cordilleran activist, is also the mother of Kara Taggaoa, a UP Diliman (UPD) sociology student and labor rights advocate who was illegally arrested for a dubious charge of direct assault on October 11, 2022.
A warrant of arrest against Awingan and eight other activists, including CPA Regional Councilman Steve Tauli, former UP Baguio student and 2019 Kabataan Party-list nominee Florence Kang, Northern Dispatch correspondent Niño Joseph Oconer, and CPA Chairperson Windel Bolinget, was issued by Abra Regional Trial Court Branch 2 Judge Corpus Alzate on January 24.
No bail was recommended for the activists. Awingan will be transferred to the Abra Provincial Jail until further development of the case.
This is not the first time these activists have been on the receiving end of state-backed harassment. In 2020, Bolinget faced a trumped-up murder charge and a shoot-to-kill order from the Cordillera police, while Tauli was abducted in August 2022 which the CPA believed was perpetrated by state forces.
In a statement, the CPA stated that the charges against their members were aimed to silence dissenters in the region. Similarly, Moro and indigenous peoples group Sandugo Alliance condemned the arrest as the latest state attack against human rights defenders.
“Sandugo Alliance stands with Jen and calls for her immediate release. We also call to drop the trumped-up charges against her and her colleagues who are victims of the continuing state-sponsored attacks against IPs and activists,” the group said in a statement.
Several groups and individuals such as Kilusang Mayo Uno, Katribu Youth, and former UPD professor Walden Bello called for Awingan’s immediate release and dismissal of charges.
“Marubdob na nananawagan ang Kabataan para sa Tribung Pilipino (Katribu Youth) na ibasura ang gawa-gawang kaso sa mga katutubong Igorot at mga lider-aktibista. Itigil ang atake sa mamamayan ng Ilocos at Cordillera!” Katribu wrote. ●
