Bayan Muna, other progressive parties harassed
Progressive parties and candidates are suffering continued harassment as the election campaign heats up. Bayan Muna and other progressive parties have consistently topped surveys on the party-list elections.
The latest incident involved the abduction of Pedro Bueta, a 54-year-old Anakpawis organizer from Barangay Buo, Magdalena, Laguna. According to his wife Rosita, Bueta was seized on March 13 by 15 men at around 10:30 in the morning. One of those who abducted Bueta was a CAFGU element, according to a neighbor who witnessed the incident.
At around 8 in the evening of March 10, soldiers of the Philippine Army 46th IB illegally arrested Joy Batis Paloma, a 17-year-old Anakpawis organizer while she was in the house of Bernardo Batis in Barangay Hiluctugan, Carigara, Leyte. She was taken to Camp Macalpi in the same town, subjected to �tactical interrogation� by the military from March 10 and released only in the face of protests led by �Task Force Joy� of Anakpawis, the Concerned Citizens for Justice and Peace, KATUNGOD-KARAPATAN, PCPR-Eastern Visayas and Carigara town officials.
Meanwhile, Bayan Muna organizers Jacquelin Paguntalan and Rolando Fortaleza who were abducted by armed men on February 21 in Baybay, Leyte remain missing to date.
Earlier, the 71st IB illegally detained Bayan Muna coordinator Teresita Abellera of Lupao, Nueva Ecija on February 8.
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