Another Murder Charge Against Lawyer Saladero and 60 Others, Dismissed

The Rizal Provincial Prosecutor dismissed the murder charge against labor lawyer Remigio “Ming” Saladero and sixty other individuals, all affiliated with progressive groups in connection with the killing of Ricardo Garmino, member of paramilitary group in Rizal province (east of Manila). In a nine-page resolution released on November 13,  Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Ronald Ignacio, cited the complainant , Adelia Garmino’s, wife of the victim,  “failure to establish probable cause.”

The prosecution noted “serious inconsistencies” and “illogical basis of identification [of respondents]” in the sworn statements and affidavits of the complainant and witnesses “ which cannot be ignored.” The decision also assailed the sworn statements by so-called witnesses Braulio Tambong, and Ronnie Garmino, brother of the victim as mere hearsay and not as direct witnesses to the crime.

Furthermore, it [resolution] took note of the contradictory testimonies on the actual number of persons present in the place of the shooting, which “create serious doubts if the witnesses really saw the shooting of the victim or if they were indeed present at the crime scene or if they were really at the place where they said they were on the day of the killing.”    

The resolution also underscored a common observation: that all of the respondents “belong to groups or organization involved with labor and social oriented advocacies/causes.” As lawyer Saladero and others were also respondents in murder charges in provinces of Mindoro and arson charge in Batangas , the Garmino case “creates the impression that there is a move to implicate them [the respondents] in several killings believed to be perpetrated by the NPA’s.”

“The prosecution rightfully says so, in saying that filing of murder charges with labor and socially oriented individuals creates an impression that there is a move to implicate them with rebel activities,” says Daisy Arago, exective director of labour right organizations, Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR).  “Criminalization of human rights work by linking it to insurgency has been around for some time, and has been used against activists in attempt to immobilize them and cripple the organizations they represent,” added Arago.

“Thus the prosecution’s dismissal of the Garmino case, is not just a victory for peoples organizations, but a also a big slap on the state move to use legal offensive against its critics,” noted Arago.  In fact, Arago added, “all cases instigated by the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group, (IALAG) which has pioneered the legal offensive against activist should have been withdrawn and dismissed upon the supposedly dismantling of the group last June, in compliance to UN Special Rapporteur, Prof. Philip Alston”

One of the many

It could be recalled that Atty Saladero and sixty others including nine from the labor sector were slapped with charge of murdering Ricky Garmino on July 29,2008 at 2:30pm in Brgy. San Rafael, Rodriguez, Rizal. The charge was filed on February 11, 2009, barely a week after Atty. Saladero and five others were released from a three-month detention in Oriental Mindoro.

Atty Saladero, the chairperson of Pro-Labor Assistance Center (PLACE) was abducted on October 23, 2008 and subsequently detained in Oriental Mindoro. He and 71 other activists from Southern Tagalog were charged with  fabricated multiple murders and multiple frustrated murders  of police officers in alleged rebel ambush in Mindoro last March 5 2006. Five others were also arrested and detained with Atty Saladero  until February 5, 2009 when the case was dismissed by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) on technical grounds..

Prior to the Mindoro case, Atty Saladero and 26 others were also charged with arson, destruction of property and conspiracy to commit rebellion in Batangas province in connection with the bombing of a telecom tower by alleged NPA rebels on August 2, 2008. The case was also dismissed by Batangas Provincial prosecution for lack of probable cause.

However, the Mindoro case was resurrected and was refilled at the Regional Trial Court in Oriental Mindoro, where the case in pending.#

For Garmino case details, read related article:

Newly Freed Lawyer, Activists Slapped Anew With Murder Raps