Elderly activist Myrna Cruz-Abraham is spending her 70th birthday today in jail, arrested last January 27 in San Rafael, Bulacan on a frustrated murder charge in Cagayan Province.
A veteran indigenous peoples’ rights advocate, Cruz-Abraham was with a daughter and grandchild on some personal errand when arrested by seven police officers in civilian clothes. She was first taken to the local police station and later to Camp Karingal in Quezon City on board unmarked vehicles.
Her medical check-up at the Quezon City General Hospital revealed elevated blood pressure, brought about by her repeated ordeal. She was first arrested for murder charges on March 22, 2010 which was later dismissed by the same Court that ordered her second arrest.
Various groups immediately condemned the arrest, saying the charges are trumped up, meant to harass development workers and activists like her.
The Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KATRIBU) strongly condemned Cruz-Abraham’s arrest and “continuing political persecution.”
“Her arrest is yet another clear manifestation of the government’s continued harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and advocates for Indigenous Peoples’ rights. We see no legitimate grounds for her arrest or the trumped-up charges against her, which only aim to suppress her decades-long advocacy for social justice and the welfare of marginalized groups and communities,” the group said.
The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) also condemned the arrest, saying the incident shows repression of dissent continues under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government.
The Quezon City Police District or QCPD allege that Cruz-Abraham is a leading member of the Communist Party of the Philippines operating in Metro Manila and leads the organization’s education work in the region.
CTUHR however said Cruz-Abraham is an employee of Sandiwa, a national alliance of indigenous and Moro peoples.
The center also said Cruz-Abraham, contrary to police allegations, was a labor organizer who was a member of the Women Industrial Workers Alliance or WIWA, Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan or KMK, and St. Joseph’s Social Services and Crisis Management Committee-NCR.
Cruz-Abraham’s arrest brings to 26 the total number of political prisoners from the labor movement and 763 overall in the country, CTUHR added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
