Top Labor Lawyer, Southern Tagalog activists freed from prison after 3 months

‘Tuloy ang laban!’

After about 3 months of detention, KMU’s chief legal counsel and 5 activist-leaders from Southern Tagalog, were released from prison yesterday, Feb 5.

The six were maliciously charged with multiple murder and multiple frustrated for allegedly participating in an NPA ambush in Mindoro last 2006.

First to be arrested was KMU chief counsel Atty. Remigio Saladero Jr. last Oct 23 at his residence-cum-office in Antipolo.

Also arrested and imprisoned were Nestor San Jose, PISTON-Rizal coordinator, Oct 24; Crispin Zapanta, Bayan Muna-Southern Tagalog officer, Oct 27; Rogelio Galit, Katipunan ng mga Magbubukid sa Kabite (Kamagsasaka-Ka) spokesperson, Nov 4; Arnaldo Seminiano, Ilaw-Buklod ng Manggagawa-KMU (IBM-KMU)organizer, Nov 6; and Emmanuel Dionida, Labor Education Advocacy Development Response Services (LEADER) executive director, Nov. 13.

All were served with defective warrants of arrests containing misspelled names and/or false addresses.

The Mindoro Oriental Regional Trial Court issued their release orders at around noon time of February 5. The court granted the “motion to quash the information” filed by the defendants, and ruled that multiple crimes (multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder) filed under only one case was not permissible.

A press conference and welcome-back gathering was held at the KMU head office this morning.

“Tuloy na tuloy ang laban! Kung noon ngang nakakulong kami’y hindi kami napigilan o ang aming mga kasapi na magpatuloy sa pagsusulong ng karapatan ng maralita, ngayon pa,” masaya at mapanghamong sabi ni Atty. Saladero.

Saladero continued writing for his weekly column in online alternative magazine Pinoy Weekly, and made legal advices to his inmates while in prison.

“Hinding-hindi kami ma-di-discourage sa kanilang ginawang pagkulong at pag-harass sa amin. Marami pa tayong laban na gustong suungin at dapat gawin, lalo na ngayong panahon ng ibayong panggigipit sa mga manggagawa’t maralita sa panahon ng krisis,” dagdag ni Saladero.

For his part, KMU Executive Vice President Joselito Ustarez said, “Sisiguraduhin naming ganap na ngang makakalaya at maibabasura ang gawa-gawang kaso sa ang aming mga kasamahan.”

72 activists from Southern Tagalog face the same charges of multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder, and Saladero, etal’s case has not yet been ordered dismissed.

“Sisiguraduhin din naming mananagot ang administrasyong Arroyo at mga responsableng ahente nito sa militar at pulisya sa ginawa nilang pang-ha-harass at pagkakait ng ilang buwang kalayaan sa aming mga kasama,” ani Ustarez.

48-day detention of prominent labor lawyer represents new trend in HRVs: Atty. Saladero resumes writing weekly column behind bars

As the world marks the 60^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, prominent labor lawyer Atty. Remigio D. Saladero Jr. marks his 48^th day of detention on false charges concocted by the Arroyo government and meant to silence critics by depriving them of their basic human rights.

“The unjust and illegal detention of Atty. Saladero represents the new trend in human rights violations that should concern all civil libertarians and freedom-loving Filipinos,” said Wilson Baldonaza, co-chair of the Free Atty. Saladero Jr. et. al. Coalition (FASC).

Atty. Saladero, legal counsel of Kilusang Mayo Uno, is charged with multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder for allegedly participating in an NPA ambush in March 2006. A total of 72 mostly high-profile Southern Tagalog leader-activists are facing the same charges, in what is dubbed as a case of wholesale political persecution and criminalization of activists.

Atty. Saladero is detained at the Calapan Provincial Jail along with five other Southern Tagalog activists.

This legal offensive is what Commission on Human Rights chairperson Leila de Lima herself termed as a “news strategy” employed by the government against individuals identified with progressive organizations.

According to Maricel Saladero, wife of Atty. Saladero and spokesperson of FASC, “My husband may not have been felled by bullets nor has he disappeared without a trace, but seeing him behind bars has caused me just as much pain. He does not deserve to be there. He should be doing what he has been doing all these years—helping workers win legal battles. He is never a criminal, he is a people’s lawyer.”

The FASC dared President Arroyo to prove her sincerity in upholding human rights by abolishing the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group (IALAG) as recommended by UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston in 2006. The IALAG is believed to be the mastermind behind the concoction of false charges against Southern Tagalog activists, including Atty. Saladero.

Meanwhile, Atty. Saladero has resumed writing his weekly column Husgahan Natin for the publication Pinoy Weekly (now online). He has been providing legal advice to workers in his column since 2003. In his latest column entitled Buhay Bilanggo, he described the deplorable living conditions in the prison.

There are 66 of them inmates cramped into 7 X 7 cell, sleeping on bug-infested plywood beds or on the cement floor. They all share one bathroom, and have to make do with unappetizing meals only worth P7.33 each.

“Alam naman ng lahat na sa kalagayan ng mga bilangguan dito sa ating bansa ngayon, imposible para sa isang bilanggo ang maging nasa maayos na kalagayan,” Atty. Saladero said in his column.

Free Saladero Coalition welcomes CHR probe into labor lawyer’s case: De Lima notes legal offensives a ‘new strategy’ vs. activists

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Leila de Lima yesterday called the emerging pattern of legal offensives against activists a “disturbing pattern” that is most probably the handiwork of the Inter-Agency Legal Assistance Group (IALAG), recommended for abolition by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Philip Alston.

In a dialogue with the Free Atty. Saladero et. al. Coalition yesterda, de Lima said that the CHR is already investigating the arrest and detention of prominent labor lawyer Atty. Remigio Saladero Jr., as well as the filing of what progressive organizations call “trumped-up charges” of multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder against 72 of their leaders in Southen Tagalog.

“Those who are charged fit perfectly the profile of the usual victims of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances,” de Lima told members of the coalition. She noted that a “new strategy” has apparently been employed by state authorities after intense local and international pressure caused a slight drop in the number of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances.

De Lima revealed that the body is set to release a report on the case of Atty. Saladero next week, based on a study of pertinent documents and reports as well as a visit to the labor lawyer in the Calapan Provincial Jail. She also said that the case has attracted the attention and concern of many groups and individuals here and abroad. De Lima also said that Atty. Saladero is her schoolmate at the San Beda College of Law.

“We welcome the CHR’s recognition that Atty. Saladero and other Southern Tagalog activists are being criminalized for being among the Arroyo government’s loudest critics. We will eagerly await the report and hope that it will contribute to the pressure to immediately release Atty. Saladero and the five other political prisoners with him. The IALAG must be made accountable for political persecution and be immediately abolished,” said Roger Soluta, head of the coalition’s secretariat.

Soluta added, “With the impending worldwide recession already affecting the local labor force, workers, now more than ever, need union leaders and lawyers like Atty. Saladero to uphold and defend their rights. But the Arroyo government is instead putting these people behind bars. It is much to the delight of capitalists, we are sure.”

The coalition is composed of workers federations, church groups, lawyers, and law students, and human rights advocates campaigning for the freedom of Atty. Saladero, chief legal counsel of Kilusang Mayo Uno handling over 700 labor cases. He also writes a column for the online publication Pinoy Weekly. He was arrested last October 23 for allegedly participating in a rebel ambush last March 2006.

CHR Commissioner urged to look into illegal arrest, detention of top labor lawyer

“With junking of impeach raps, more vigilance needed vs. Arroyo’s HRVs”

Members of the Free Atty. Saladero et. al. Coalition today trooped to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to urge Commissioner Leila de Lima to look into the illegal arrest and continued detention of prominent labor lawyer and human rights advocate Remigio Saladero Jr.

“With the junking of the impeachment raps, President Arroyo will now be more emboldened to intensify its crackdown on the legitimate opposition. The CHR must thus be more vigilant in upholding human rights. It can start by investigating the filing of trumped-up criminal charges against Atty. Saladero and other Southern Tagalog activists,” said Roger Soluta, head of the coalition’s secretariat.

The coalition is composed of workers federations, church groups, lawyers, and law students, among others campaigning for the freedom of Atty. Saladero. As chief legal counsel of Kilusang Mayo Uno and a pro-bono lawyer of the Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center, Atty. Saladero handles over 700 labor cases. He is also a columnist for the online publication Pinoy Weekly.

Atty. Saladero, who finished #17 in the 1984 bar exams, is also de Lima’s schoolmate at the San Beda College of Law.

He is currently detained at the Calapan, Mindoro Provincial Jail with charges of multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder for allegedly participating in an NPA ambush in March 2006, along with five others. A total of 72 mostly high-profile Southern Tagalog leader-activists are facing the same charges, in what is dubbed as a case of wholesale political persecution and criminalization of activists.

The coalition related to de Lima the legal lapses committed by Judge Thomas Leynes of the Calapan Regional Trial Court Branch 40, who issued the “defective” warrant of arrest against Saladero et. al. based on an amended complaint by a lone witness claiming to be a deep penetration agent. The 72 were charged despite official witnesses’ claims that only 15 John Does were part of the ambush. It is unclear in the complaint what the participation of the 72 was. Also, no preliminary investigation was held and the accused were not given a chance to submit their counter-affidavits before the serving of the warrant.

“The CHR should investigate how the military is using the courts to maliciously link leaders of legal organizations, and now even a lawyer, to the underground movement. It has happened before with Tagaytay 5 and Pastor Berlin Guerrero, now freed. Why should a devoted worker and human rights defender like Atty. Saladero spend even one more minute in jail?” said Soluta.

Arrests of labor activists are ridiculous, aimed to sabotage workers –Canadian labor groups

Canadian labor unions representing some 1.5 million workers express alarm over the worsening labor rights situation in the Philippines, including the on-going crackdown against labor unions, formations and institutions. Saladero, who handles loads of labor cases, could impossibly attend court hearings; work as a columnist while performing duties in NPA armed activities. In addition, two of them are badly ill, one has polio since birth and the other is suffering from diabetes for years now, which makes them impossible to engage in armed conflicts that requires physical strength.

In spate of ‘legal offensives’ in the form of false criminal charges filed against 72 Southern Tagalog activists, largest Canadian labor groups conducted the “Canadian Trade Union Mission in the Philippines (CTUMP),” a weeklong investigation of labor rights situation in the country starting November 14.

The mission was composed of leaders from Public Service Alliance in Canada representing some 1.2 million workers, United Steelworkers representing some 270,000 workers, and Canadian Union of Postal Workers representing some 60,000 workers.

The mission had conducted investigations in Laguna, Cavite, and Batangas. It also visited urban poor areas in Metro Manila.

Based on initial report, it said that arrests against union leaders, including labor lawyer Remigio Saladero Jr., was ‘ridiculous’ when it found out that those already held in custody could have impossibly committed the crimes of arson, rebellion, murder and multiple frustrated murders on which they were charged.

For example, Atty. Saladero, who handles loads of labor cases, could impossibly attend court hearings; work as a columnist while performing duties in NPA armed activities. In addition, two of them are badly ill, one has polio since birth and the other is suffering from diabetes for years now, which makes them impossible to engage in armed conflicts that requires physical strength.

The mission also highly suspects that those legal offensives were just aimed to “sabotage the workers (activities) and try to instill fear among the people.”

The CTUMP is set to reveal its findings, conclusions, and recommendations on Tuesday, November 25. It will also hold a dialogue with Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Leila De Lima in the afternoon of the same day.

Workers appeal to Globe Telecom: “Distance yourself from human rights violators”; Clients of Atty. Saladero call for labor lawyer’s immediate release

Members of the National Federation of Labor Unions (Naflu)- Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) today stormed the main office of Globe Telecom in Mandaluyong City to condemn the continued illegal detention and call for the immediate release of Atty. Remigio D. Saladero Jr., a prominent labor lawyer, human rights advocate, and columnist.

Atty. Saladero, chief legal counsel of KMU, is unjustly accused of being a New People’s Army (NPA) look-out who participated in blowing up a Globe Telecom cell site in Lemery, Batangas last August 2008. Illegally arrested in his house last October 23, he is detained at the Calapan City Jail also for charges of murder and multiple frustrated murder for allegedly participating in an NPA ambush in March 2006. He is one of the 72 Southern Tagalog activists facing the same case. Six of them have been nabbed and are in jail.

“Atty. Saladero is taking care of 700 labor cases and regularly prepares pleadings and attends court hearings. He also writes a weekly column for Pinoy Weekly. It is absurd for anyone to claim that he is an NPA, along with other high-profile leaders of legal mass organizations. This is clearly political persecution consistent with the renewed rise of human rights violations under the Arroyo government,” said Wilson Baldonaza, KMU executive vice-president and co-chair of the newly formed Free Atty. Saladero et.al. Coalition.

The coalition is composed of workers federations, church groups, law students, and lawyers campaigning for the freedom of Atty. Saladero, who is a graduate of San Beda College of Law and placed #17 in the 1984 bar exams.

Meanwhile, Antonio Pascual, Naflu-KMU secretary-general, said that Globe Telecom “must distance itself from human rights violators like the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).” The Globe Telecom arson charges vs. Saladero is based on a lone witness, Arvin Leviste, who claims to be a deep penetration agent of the AFP. “Anyone can claim to be a DPA. But no one can claim to have their integrity vouched for by hundreds of workers.”

Among Atty. Saladero’s clients are Naflu-KMU-led unions of Dole Philippines, Pilipinas Palm Oil, Asahi Glass Corp., and Pascual Liner, whose members are grappling with issues of non-payment of wages, labor-only contracting, illegal retrenchment, and union-busting.

His wife Maricel Saladero and spokersperson of the Free Atty. Saladero et. al. Coalition said, “My husband, despite being a victim of Arroyo’s crackdown, continues to serve the poor and marginalized even behind bars. His inmates are lining up to get legal advice. But I am worried for his health and safety because he suffers from hypertension.”

Free Atty. Saladero et. al. Coalition is set to launch protest actions, a dialogue with the Commission on Human Rights, public fora, a benefit dinner, and other activities until Atty. Saladero and other Southern Tagalog activists are freed and their bogus cases junked.

Global Day of Action against Trade Union Repression today: KMU alarms public over wave of criminal charging, gestapo arrests and detention of labor lawyer and leaders

In several parts of the world today, workers will unite against renewed and escalated repressions to the labor movement amid the panic of the capitalists due to the financial crisis.

In our country, a top labor lawyer, and a growing number of union leaders are slapped with trumped up criminal charges, arrested gestapo-like, and detained in prisons. The security of every worker is now under threat.

Today, KMU will alarm the public on this pressing threat to their life and liberties, and will bring the issue at the foot of Malacanang, to the chief labor persecutor herself  — Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

According to Wilson Baldonaza, Kilusang Mayo Uno’s Secretary General, workers are more determined and pledged to struggle more amidst escalating trade union and political persecutions against them and the Filipino people in general.

” Actually, we have experienced the worst during martial law when all our political and trade union rights were trampled but we  persevered to smash  the terror of the darkest days in our nation’s history. While many are saying that the repressions we are in to now are worse during Marcos dictatorship, we will not be cowed. We will fight back and justice will be served to us the soonest possible,” Baldonaza said.

Baldonaza also scoffed at the so called “ST 72 List”, wherein 13 KMU leaders were tagged as New People’s Army members and were hunted for arrest. Included in the list and were accosted by police and military elements recently are KMU chief legal counsel Atty. Remigio Saladero Jr. , worker organizer Arnaldo Seminiano and other labor advocates.

” If the ongoing crackdown in the Southern Tagalog (ST) region displays the complicity among government forces, vicious capitalists and corrupt judges, then we have no recourse but to unite with the people who have the power to thwart their malevolence and injustices. We still believe that a people united will never be defeated. If they are out to suppress and exploit their wealth creator in any  means, they cannot decimate us easily. They will be defeated in the end,” he said.

The labor leader also registered that all the blood debts of the Macapagal-Arroyo regime, including the Hacienda Luisita Massacre that was brutally perpetrated by labor officials, military and police in 2004, will never be unpunished.

Lawyers, political leaders, marginalized gather for immediate freedom of Atty. Saladero; Persecution of people’s lawyer is persecution of people

A broad spectrum of leaders and representatives of various sectors gathered today in the launching of the Free Atty. Saladero coalition to combine efforts for the immediate freedom of people’s lawyer Atty. Remigio Saladero Jr.

Saladero was illegally arrested in his residence last October 23 and has been in jail since then (see fact sheet). He is currently chief legal counsel of Kilusang Mayo Uno, board chair of the Pro Labor Legal Assistance Center, and handles several hundred of cases of workers, urban poor, peasant organizations, and other marginalized sectors.

Saladero was included among the 72 leaders of progressive legal organizations mostly from Southern Tagalog charged with multiple murder. He was earlier charged, along with 26 others from Southern Tagalog also, with arson and inciting to rebellion.

“The Arroyo regime has the clearest motive for the arrest and detention of Atty. Saladero and other people’s defenders. Saladero represents the marginalized in their rude battle for justice.” said Elmer Labog, KMU Chairperson.

“Arroyo’s terrorism poses a greater threat to our security, for if they can arrest and detain a lawyer in the most illegal way, how much more can they do to the ordinary people?”

Saladero has never set foot on the place of the crime he was accused to commit murder, and it was “plainly impossible” for him to engage in guerilla activities, as what he is accused of, because of his hectic daily schedule with the many cases he handles.

“We are on guard against the regime’s new tactic of slapping his enemies with grave criminal charges, instead of political charges, so it will be non-bailable and harder to defend. They do so because we have succeeded in always proving their political charges false in court, and plainly malicious for the public,” Labog added.

“We will never cower in our fight for the rights and welfare of the workers and other marginalized, Arroyo will fail in its newest wave of attempt to silence us.”

KMU called on all concerned citizens to be vigilant and actively partake against the regime’s growing fascism and repression.

ANAKPAWIS lauds New York-based Human Rights Watch vs Manila Government’s rights violations; urges new US president to clamp down aid on Arroyo

News Release

06 November 2008

ANAKPAWIS lauds New York-based Human Rights Watch vs Manila Government’s rights violations; urges new US president to clamp down aid on Arroyo

THE PROGRESSIVE party list group Anakpawis hailed the New York-based Human Rights Watch on campaigning for the immediate release of Atty. Remigio Saladero Jr. amid the worsening human rights violations being committed by the Manila government.

Anakpawis secretary-general Cherry Clemente said that the US-based rights advocate testifies against the gross human rights abuses of the Macapagal-Arroyo government and called on newly-elected US president Barack Obama and other governments to clamp down on aid for Arroyo.

“The politically-motivated arrest and detention of Atty Saladero, unjustly charged together with more than 70 other activists as of date, should merit the attention of the US and other governments especially Barack Obama.  The least these governments could do is to cut off aid aside from diplomatic pressures on the Arroyo government,” Clemente said.

“If Obama campaigned with poetry, he may as well govern in truthful prose,” Clemente added.

Human Rights Watch urged the United States and the European Union to monitor Saladero’s case closely and to call for his immediate release.

Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, in a news release, said that the arrest of Atty. Saladero last October 23 “smacks of harassment, pure and simple.”

“Saladero’s arrest shows the Philippine government is not sincere in its pledges to stop harassing lawyers and activists,” Pearson said. “It’s not just Saladero’s rights that are undermined, but the rights of all Filipinos ever in need of a lawyer.”

Saladero’s lawyer told Human Rights Watch that he was allowed to meet with Saladero in jail only after Saladero had been interrogated for six hours, even though he was entitled to legal counsel from the start of the interrogation. He is currently being held in the Calapan City provincial jail.

In recent years, the Macapagal Arroyo government has come under intense international and domestic criticism over hundreds of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of leftist activists, journalists, lawyers and clergy by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.