Innabuyog-Gabriela strongly condemned Philippine National Police (PNP)-Kalinga elements for their illegal entry and search at Elma Awingan-Tuazon’s house in barangay Cawagayan, Pinukpuk, Kalinga on November 30. PCOL Gilbert Fati-ig led the raid.

Awingan-Tuazon is a Limos tribe member in Kalinga. She is one of the members of the tribe who denounces the Saltam Dam Projects of JBD Water Power Inc, an Australian-based company. She serves as a coordinator for the Justice and Peace Advocates of Kalinga and the Sumkad ti Umili para iti Matagoan, Karbengan, Aglawlaw, Daga ken Dayaw (SUMKADD, or Empower the People for Housing, Rights, Environment, Land, and Dignity). She served as a Pinukpuk town councilor from 2010 to 2019.

Awingan-Tuazon’s relatives reported that 20 PNP-Kalinga police officers stormed her house at around 4 p.m.. Seven of them wore bonnets.

Police claimed that they went to the house after receiving information that her family was harboring a wounded New People’s Army (NPA) member. They forcibly entered and searched the house without the presence of Awingan-Tuazon and her children.

Meanwhile, Awingan-Tuazon reported that she was being followed and monitored while she was at a bank. Returning home with her child, she was shocked by the alarming presence of police officers and commotion at her house.

The series of incidents terrified Awingan-Tuazon and her children. Her relatives expressed concern for her and her child’s condition, since they both suffer from heart ailments.

According to Innabuyog-Gabriela, since the encounter between the 103rd IB and the NPA in Pinukpuk, Kalinga on November 21, state forces have relentlessly threatened, surveilled, and harassed Awingan-Tuazon and her family.

Her husband, Chester Tuazon, a migrant worker, expressed outrage on social media through a video.

“You are harassing my family… The reason you are harassing my family is because they are standing up against corruption in the Philippines! Instead of going after the corrupt, the Pinukpuk police and intelligence officers are targeting my family, who are only exposing corruption. You are shameless!” Tuazon said in the video.

Innabuyog-Gabriela demanded the PNP and AFP to immediately stop their harassment, threats, and attacks against Awingan-Tuazon and her family, as well as all human rights defenders. The group also said that authorities must conduct an investigation and hold accountable those responsible for raiding Awingan-Tuazon’s house.