City of Tabuk, Kalinga - The issue on the ownership of the disputed parcels of land in Rizal, Kalinga will now take the back seat as the court will presently be asked to determine accountability for the killing and injuries inflicted during the demolition at sitio Malapiat in barangay San Pascual on June 25.
Lawyer Rustico Gagate, counsel for the Malapiat settlers, informed the media that a number of charges will be filed with the Department of Justice against then mayor Marcelo dela Cruz for ordering the demolition activity which triggered the encounter which left nine people dead and 12 others injured.
Gagate said that among the charges to be filed will be for the extra-judicial killing of Juan Attang and Felimon Oliva. He claimed they have witnesses who saw the two being taken by the police to their checkpoint alive on June 25. Gagate said the bodies of the two were found in the funeral parlor the following day.
Gagate also said that a separate murder charge will be filed against dela Cruz for the killing of Aboc Tayaan who he described as a blind and cancer-stricken old woman. He pointed out that the house of Tayaan is far from the scene of the bloody clash.
Asked to comment on the impending charges, dela Cruz said that that is expected as Gagate has already filed several cases against him earlier.
Dela Cruz turned the tables on Gagate saying that after the eviction of the squatters in 2003, the lawyer had filed three cases against him (dela Cruz) but did not wait for the resolution of the cases before allowing his clients to re-enter the area.
Dela Cruz claimed that the Malapiat lots have been titled in the names of the people who have been displaced by the clients of Gagate.
Regarding the charge of summary execution of Attang and Oliva, dela Cruz asked how he could have ordered such as claimed by Gagate when he was in the company of people from the Commission on Human Rights and military and police officials all the time on the day of the demolition. He added that if such a case would be filed, perhaps the right agency where the case should be filed should be at the CHR.
He, however, expressed the wish that Gagate will just help find solution to the festering land conflict instead of creating more problems.
Gagate debunked the claim of the police that it was his clients who provoked the bloody encounter by firing the first shots asking how that could be when his clients were unarmed.
He claimed that with the scene of the clash overgrown with tall grasses, it is not impossible that a third party had entered the scene and fired at the police purposely to ignite a clash between the police and his clients.
Gagate also alleged that the Malapiat residents who are now in the custody of the police and are facing charges for their alleged participation in the clash are young farmers who sought the assistance of the police on June 25 but were arrested and jailed instead.
Gagate said that the lawyers of several anti-crime groups including the CIBAC partylist and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) "are now taking the lead to. bring dela Cruz to the DOJ for appropriate investigation of his crimes."
Gagate informed that dela Cruz was summoned by the Regional Trial Court here to appear before it on June 25 for the hearing on the urgent petition for the issuance of a temporary restraining order against the demolition which he (Gagate) filed in behalf of the settlers but instead of heeding the order, dela Cruz ordered the demolition on the same day.**Estanislao Albano Jr.
Lawyer Rustico Gagate, counsel for the Malapiat settlers, informed the media that a number of charges will be filed with the Department of Justice against then mayor Marcelo dela Cruz for ordering the demolition activity which triggered the encounter which left nine people dead and 12 others injured.
Gagate said that among the charges to be filed will be for the extra-judicial killing of Juan Attang and Felimon Oliva. He claimed they have witnesses who saw the two being taken by the police to their checkpoint alive on June 25. Gagate said the bodies of the two were found in the funeral parlor the following day.
Gagate also said that a separate murder charge will be filed against dela Cruz for the killing of Aboc Tayaan who he described as a blind and cancer-stricken old woman. He pointed out that the house of Tayaan is far from the scene of the bloody clash.
Asked to comment on the impending charges, dela Cruz said that that is expected as Gagate has already filed several cases against him earlier.
Dela Cruz turned the tables on Gagate saying that after the eviction of the squatters in 2003, the lawyer had filed three cases against him (dela Cruz) but did not wait for the resolution of the cases before allowing his clients to re-enter the area.
Dela Cruz claimed that the Malapiat lots have been titled in the names of the people who have been displaced by the clients of Gagate.
Regarding the charge of summary execution of Attang and Oliva, dela Cruz asked how he could have ordered such as claimed by Gagate when he was in the company of people from the Commission on Human Rights and military and police officials all the time on the day of the demolition. He added that if such a case would be filed, perhaps the right agency where the case should be filed should be at the CHR.
He, however, expressed the wish that Gagate will just help find solution to the festering land conflict instead of creating more problems.
Gagate debunked the claim of the police that it was his clients who provoked the bloody encounter by firing the first shots asking how that could be when his clients were unarmed.
He claimed that with the scene of the clash overgrown with tall grasses, it is not impossible that a third party had entered the scene and fired at the police purposely to ignite a clash between the police and his clients.
Gagate also alleged that the Malapiat residents who are now in the custody of the police and are facing charges for their alleged participation in the clash are young farmers who sought the assistance of the police on June 25 but were arrested and jailed instead.
Gagate said that the lawyers of several anti-crime groups including the CIBAC partylist and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) "are now taking the lead to. bring dela Cruz to the DOJ for appropriate investigation of his crimes."
Gagate informed that dela Cruz was summoned by the Regional Trial Court here to appear before it on June 25 for the hearing on the urgent petition for the issuance of a temporary restraining order against the demolition which he (Gagate) filed in behalf of the settlers but instead of heeding the order, dela Cruz ordered the demolition on the same day.**Estanislao Albano Jr.
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