A court in Benguet released a decision ordering former police chief R’win Pagkalinawan to pay damages to activist leader Windel Bolinget. The decision was penned on February 29 but was only released recently. Pagkalinawan is a former Police Regional Office-Cordillera director while Bolinget is Cordillera People’s Alliance chairperson. The court set damages at ₱30,000, ₱20,000 for corrective damages, and ₱10,000 for attorney’s fees.

The court ruled that Bolinget was a victim of malicious prosecution and that his constitutional rights were clearly violated. Police illegally detained him based on weak and baseless charges that were later dismissed. They also violated his right to privacy through a manhunt and surveillance. The issuance of a warrant of arrest together with a “shoot-to-kill” order threatened his life.

Bolinget filed a civil case against Pagkalinawan on June 23, 2023, along with Major Ruth Dizon and Ranel Tibog Vender. Kapalong Municipal Police former chief Dizon filed the murder case against him, while Vender served as a fake witness. He sought ₱300,000 in damages for actual, moral, and corrective damages, and ₱100,000 for attorney’s fees and litigation expenses.

The civil case stemmed from a murder case filed against him and other activists in August 2018 by the Regional Trial Court in Tagum City, Davao del Norte. Police linked them to the killing of Garito Tiklonay Malibato in March 2018. Malibato was a Lumad who defended his ancestral land against large plantations. He and his organization Karadyawan were targets of military Red-tagging. Malibato’s family and Karadyawan believe that Alamara, a paramilitary group linked with the military, were the real perpetrators.

Regional Trial Court Branch 30 in Tagum City ordered the arrest of Bolinget and 10 others in September 2020. Pagkalinawan issued a “shoot-to-kill” order in January 2021 if Bolinget resisted, after Kalinga police announced a ₱100,000 bounty for information leading to his arrest.

Bolinget surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation and was detained for more than a month. The Tagum City court dismissed the case on July 12, 2021.

According to Bolinget, these events caused severe mental suffering, intense anxiety, moral anguish, humiliation, and damage to his reputation.