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THE
pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines
(UCCP), who was reported snatched by the military as
earlier claimed by militant groups, was not abducted but
arrested by the police on murder and inciting to
sedition charges.
Senior
Supt. Fidel Posadas,
Cavite
police commander, told BUSINESSMIRROR that Rev. Berlin
Guerrero was arrested on strength of a warrant of arrest
issued by Branch 19 of the Regional Trial Court in
Bacoor, Cavite, docketed under Criminal Case B19-254.
Posadas
did not elaborate on the case, but said the alleged
crimes were committed in 1992.
He said
Guerrero was also charged with inciting to sedition at
the Regional Trial Court in Calamba, Laguna, docketed
under Criminal Case 17107.
The case
was filed in 1988.
Military
sources described Guerrero as a “big catch” because he
is allegedly the head of the communist New People’s Army
(NPA) in Cavite.
Guerrero
according to sources was the deputy of a certain “Ka
Marsing” who used to head the communist movement in the
province. Guerrero allegedly replaced Ka Marsing when
the latter was captured.
“Like
other members or supporters of the communist movement,
he [Guerrero] is just using his church group as a
front,” a source said.
Human-rights group Karapatan earlier said that Guerrero
had just come out from the UCCP chapel in barangay
Malaban, Binan, Laguna, at around 5:30 p.m. after
leading the Sunday worship service of the religious
group when armed men pounced on him and forced him into
a waiting van.
For its
part, party-list Bayan Muna assailed the National Police
over what it described as the “Gestapo-style” arrest of
Guerrero.
Guerrero
is based at the Union Theological Seminary in Cavite,
and is active in the ecumenical movement.
He was a
former secretary general of the Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan in Southern Tagalog.
He is a
founding member of Bayan Muna and was among its first
leaders in the same region.
In the
past, particularly before the May 14 elections, the
military accused Bayan Muna of being a legal front of
the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA.
Director
General Oscar Calderon, National Police chief, ordered
an investigation into the manner by which lawmen served
the arrest warrant on Guerrero.
Calderon
directed Director Geary Barias, chief of the Directorate
for Investigation and Detective Management, to look into
allegations that police operational procedures were
violated when intelligence personnel of the Cavite
police command and agents of the Naval Intelligence and
Security Force arrested Guerrero.
Police
records revealed that Guerrerro was turned over to the
Cavite police command on Monday morning.
Arresting officers will present Guerrerro before the
courts in Cavite and Laguna, and receive further orders
from judicial authorities.
“Granting that it was a legitimate police operation to
serve a lawful order from the court, it appears from all
indications that there is something amiss as far as
observance of police operational procedures is
concerned, particularly on the manner of serving the
warrant of arrest and effecting the arrest,” Barias
said.
Allegations of manhandling and robbery will also be
looked into, Barias said. |
