of the Philippines the criminal justice system is - Article 2

esidents about the noise from the concert. The village militia
said that the concert had not been approved. They threatened to
charge Ramos and others for public alarm and scandal, and for
violating the village curfew. Although some of those arrested were
minors, the militia did not inform their parents. Nor did they
give treatment for injuries caused.
Ramos and his companions were released at 5am. Ramos then
proceeded to a public hospital where his injuries were examined.
The next day, August 14, he was accompanied by his mother,
Maria Ellenor Magdaraog, to file a complaint at the Barangay
Hall. But the officials reportedly attempted to exonerate Zamora.
Christopher Tillo, head of the Peace and Order Committee who
was supervising the operation said that policemen had beaten
Ramos, not his man.
Security force personnel are not supposed to be armed unless
they have permits to carry weapons. When Zamora was asked
about the firearm he had used the night before, he claimed that
it was lent to him by the police: this is admission of illegal carrying
of a firearm. Tillo reportedly attempted to argue that his men
were allowed to have guns; however, he was unable to produce
permits to support his claims.
After going to Barangay Hall, Magdaraog and her son went to
the children and women’s desk at the Pasig City Police to report
the incident and file formal charges against the perpetrator. They
advised that Ramos had to get medical documentation. The police
then called Zamora for questioning, and Tillo accompanied him.
Tillo reportedly threatened to file counter-charges against Ramos
and his companions if he decided to file charges against Zamora.
Tillo’s men have been accused of repeatedly abusing their
authority of arrest. The group has reportedly threatened a number
of victims not to file formal charges against them once released.
Uztadz Kusain Abedin: Arrested on unverified information
Uztadz Kusain Abedin was arrested at a bus terminal on Don
Rufino Alonzo Street, Cotabato City, at 6:45pm on 3 August 2006
and without any reason taken into custody of Task Force Tugis,
a special military unit headed by Colonel Calanoy. A witness
saw him forcibly put in a maroon-coloured military service utility
vehicle with license plate number SFU-275, which was last seen
heading towards the headquarters of Task Force Tugis at PC Hill,
Cotabato City. Guinaid Adam, a manager of the bus company
from where Abedin was taken, reportedly accompanied him to
the military’s headquarters.
When Abedin’s colleagues at United Youth for Peace and
Development, a Mindanao youth development organisation, went
to the Task Group Tugis’ headquarters, the military could not
present any warrants to justify Abedin’s arrest. He was not given
access to legal counsel for some hours and the reasons for his
detention were not made clear. It was later learned that it was
prompted by an SMS purportedly sent by an intelligence source
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VICTIM:
Uztadz Kusain Abedin
INCIDENT: Illegal arrest
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS:
Task ask Force Tugis ugis personnel,
commanded by Col. Calanoy
DATE: 3 August 2006
AHRC UA-260-2006
article 2 • February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1 103