COTABATO CITY – The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament on June 24 adopted a resolution supporting the “actions of our Moro legislators for standing on behalf of the Bangsamoro, and ensuring the protection and welfare of our people outside the region.”
This is in reference to the warrantless arrest of eleven (11) individuals at the Yuxing Construction site in Bacoor City on February 17. The arrest was conducted by agents of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).
As cited in BTA Resolution No. 129, the agents ordered the individuals to lie face down on the floor, and asked who among them were Muslims. According to Bacoor police, the operation was part of the NICA and NCRPO’s verification on the alleged presence of Abu Sayyaf elements in the construction site.
Of the 11 individuals, 7 (seven) were from the province of Basilan, six (6) of whom were identified namely: Hadzma Pandapit Marunsing, Arsid Abdulkadir, Arhan Mustafa Juhur, Tahirin Ngairun Jalil, Nulham Tadjae, and Dam Sansangan Hamid.
The resolution also cited a similar event in 2020, when Manila Police District law enforcers broke into the home of suspected shabu sellers Saadudin Alawiya and Abdullah Maute, without proper identification, search warrant and warrant of arrest, and without prior coordination with the barangay officials and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
In his privilege speech on March 3, House Deputy Speaker and Basilan Representative Mujiv Hataman called the arrests as ‘kidnapping’, likening it to those committed to the Martial Law victims.
Hataman, with the support of Anak Mindanao Representative Amihilda Sangcopan and other Moro congressmen, filed resolutions calling for the probe into the warrantless arrest of Muslims in Cavite and elsewhere.
BTA’s resolution also asks the Bangsamoro Human Rights Commission (BHRC) to the coordinate with the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) for the investigation on the issue.
Under the Bangsamoro Administrative Code, the NCHR and the BHRC may agree to conduct joint investigations on human rights violations and abuses that occurred either outside of the BARMM when the subject of the investigation involves Bangsamoro, or within the BARMM when the subject of the investigation is of national complexion. (Bangsamoro Information Office)
