CABANATUAN CITY – The Nueva Ecija Police Provincial Office (NEPPO) has transferred two young activists who were charged for alleged possession of firearms and explosives from the detention facility here to San Jose City district jail upon order of the Regional Trial Court.
Senior Supt. Crizaldo Nieves, provincial police director, said Gerald Salonga and Guiller Cadano were brought by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) led by Insp. Allan Batle which was dispatched by PPSC commander Supt. Ricardo Villanueva provided heavy security to the detainees.
Nieves said police received the transfer order from San Jose City RTC 39 Judge Cynthia Martinez-Florendo.
Salonga and Cadano are facing charges for violations of Republic Act 10591 and Republic Act 9516. They were arrested by joint teams from the Army’s 7th Infantry Division and the Nueva Ecija police in a house in Barangay R.T. Padilla, Carranglan town on August 9. The lawmen were serving an arrest warrant to suspected New People’s Army commander Ely Taray, also known as Ka Emong.
The military said the two were platoon guides of the NPA unit operating in Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya and Pangasinan provinces. But they identified themselves to arresting teams as organizers of the youth groups Kabataan and Anakbayan.
Cadano and Salonga are Pi Sigma and Sigma Kappa Pi fraternity members, respectively. They obtained degrees in business management and psychology, respectively at the UP Diliman Extension program at Clark Freeport in Pampanga.
Cecil Ruiz, chair of the human rights watchdog Karapatan in Central Luzon, said the arrest warrant was for Taray, not for Cadana and Salonga which is a blatant violation of the two former UP students’ human rights. Ruiz said the two were forced by their captors to admit they were NPA rebels during interrogation, a claim the military and police denied.
Villanueva said the two were treated well in the PPSC compound where they were detained.
