BAGUIO CITY — A bit of tension marred Thursday’s first hearing on the petition against the Anti-Terrorism Council’s (ATC) terrorist designation of four Cordilleran activists here when a hooded man was accosted, frisked and led out of the justice hall.
Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) leaders Windel Bolinget, Sarah Abellon-Alikes, Jennifer Awingan and Stephen Tauli, all petitioners, stood before the court when attention shifted to a masked man in a hooded jacket taking photos and videos of the four.
Uniformed policemen interrupted the proceedings when they accosted the man, who later turned out to be Patrolman Maruel Baniwas Benito, a member of the Baguio City Intelligence Unit.
Although the undercover policeman was escorted out of the justice hall, the CPA later issued a statement calling Mr. Benito’s presence “a blatant act of harassment by the police and even inside the courthouse where firearms are prohibited.”
“Threats to the lives of the four CPA leaders is not new but more so now that they were wrongly designated terrorists by the Anti-Terrorism Council,” the CPA said.
“Ironically, today’s hearing was specifically about the petitioners’ request for the court to issue an order for the petitioners’ temporary freedom from the implications of the terrorist designation while the case is on-going,” it added. The injunction is yet to be granted.
The Baguio City police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident. — Artemio A. Dumlao
