By KATH CORTEZ
Davao Today
DAVAO CITY – Human rights group Karapatan Southern Mindanao condemned the arrest of its former secretary general Jay Apiag last August 13.
The group said Apiag was on board his classmate’s vehicle to attend their classes in Cor Jesu College School of Law when members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Digos stopped them and served a warrant of arrest for double attempted murder issued by the Digos City Regional Trial Court Branch 61.
Apiag was later taken by PNP Buhangin who presented another arrest warrant for attempted murder issued by the Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 52. He was brought and detained at the Buhangin Police Station in Davao City on August 14 at around 8 pm.
“This despicable policy and practice of filing trumped-up charges against rights defenders in an attempt to silence them should stop,” Karapatan-Southern Mindanao said.
There are still no details on the cases filed against Apiag but in March 2021, Apiag and Karapatan National Chairperson Elisa Lubi appealed to a Davao City court to reinvestigate charges against them for their alleged involvement in an armed encounter in Paquibato District in Davao in May 2018. They also asked the court to recall the arrest warrants issued against them.
Apiag was also among those included in a poster circulated in Davao City in 2020 tagging him and other local activists as members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Apiag was Karapatan Southern Mindanao’s secretary general from 2017 to 2021 before he stepped down to pursue his law studies. Prior to this, he was a paralegal of Kawagib Moro Human Rights Organization in Cotabato City from 2008 to 2011 and the coordinator of Karapatan North Cotabato in 2012. He was a campus journalist and coordinator of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines Greater Cotabato area.
Bayan Muna Partylist Southern Mindanao also condemned the arrest and urged the government to uphold Apiag’s right to due process.
“Jay’s arrest, the enforced disappearance of labor organizer William Lariosa last April 2024, and the continued red-tagging and intimidation of local activists are manifestations of the shrinking democratic space here in Davao and across Mindanao. These incidents stem from the Duterte regime’s all-out scheme of political vilification and the current Marcos administration’s continuance of Duterte’s draconian policies such as Executive Order 70, Anti-Terrorism Law, etc.,” said Rauf Sissay, regional coordinator of Bayan Muna – Southern Mindanao. Reposted by 
