Police and military arrested 10 individuals in joint operations of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on March 11, including National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant for the Cordillera, Gabriel Kennedy Bangibang. State forces had already arrested two other individuals before this incident, according to the human rights group Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA).

The 12 arrested are accused of being members and officials of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (NPA) in Ilocos-Cordillera. According to CHRA, all those arrested were unarmed and non-combatant.

In Tarlac City, police arrested seven individuals, including Bangibang, in a house in Barangay Baras-baras. The police said the seven face cases of murder, attempted murder, qualified trafficking, and illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

The report received by CHRA said the seven suffered brutality and abuse at the hands of the police and military while being arrested. They were allegedly repeatedly struck on the head, punched in the face and stomach, and their faces were smashed against the floor. CHRA added that the charges against them are fabricated.

CHRA also condemned the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) for violating the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), which it signed with the NDFP on February 24, 1995. The JASIG guarantees the safety of all those involved in the peace negotiations, and prohibits surveillance and the arrest of its negotiators, consultants, and other personnel.

Police had already arrested Bangibang in Buguias, Benguet in 2013. He was released in August 2016 and joined as a consultant for the Cordillera and issues concerning the national minority in the peace negotiations with the GRP.

State forces arrested three others in Quezon City on the same day. These included Jess Bungay Gamay and John Silverio Saligbon. Immediate investigation by human rights groups and the families revealed that police had “released” the two as there are no cases filed against them.

Families nevertheless could not locate the two, who have remained missing for several days. CHRA suspects that they are still under the custody of state forces. Police and military refuse to sign an “Inquiry into a Reported Disappeared Person’s Whereabouts Form.”

“Their safety must be ensured, and that they are in good condition and free from any form of violence, coercion, or intimidation,” CHRA stated. Together with the families, the group is calling on state forces to immediately surface the two and release them from detention.

In Kalinga, the 5th ID is presenting the two others whom police and military arrested before March 11 as having “surrendered” to the government as former Red fighters.

According to CHRA, the safety of all those arrested must be ensured, their rights to due process under the law must be respected, the standards of international humanitarian law must be upheld, and they must be presented to their families and chosen lawyers.