THE NATIONAL Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) has expressed alarm and deep concern over the recent spate of arrests of Muslims in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
"My office considers the arrest and detention of poor Muslim construction workers appalling and a violation of human rights," NCMF Commissioner Yusoph J. Mando told the PIA-NCR.
According to a police report, the recent offensive involved elements of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), and the NCRPO Regional Force Battalion, which jointly raided a construction site maintained by Yuking Construction Inc., in Barangay Mambog 4, Bacoor City, Cavite, some 17 kilometers away from Manila.
A number construction workers were reportedly arrested merely based on raw information of an alleged presence of Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the area.
In the early dawn of 17 February 2021, some workers were preparing for their usual daily tasks while others were praying their dawn prayers when the site was raided, reports reaching the NCMF said.
It said workers of the said site including the wife of a welder, a nutritionist, who is bound for abroad were reportedly held at gunpoint by the raiding team.
Witnesses there also reported that non-uniformed men entered the property. Those arrested were nowhere to be found up to this time.
"Under the cover of being tough on crime, some law enforcers are targeting Muslims as part of a strategy that relies merely on suspicion just because they are Muslims,” Mando added.
The NCMF official then called for the immediate release of those workers who are not in any way connected with any crime and the prosecution of those who are proven to be in conflict with law.
"It is unfortunate that those wrongfully arrested have allegedly been maltreated despite introducing themselves as mere poor construction workers who just want to provide for their families." Mando said.
"They were arrested, handcuffed and were brought to a still unknown place. Without doubt, there is an urgent need to strengthen law enforcement capabilities and support these to adequately and effectively contain the menace of terrorist acts for the preservation of national security and the promotion of general welfare," he added.
"I am therefore appealing to the Muslim Communities to police their ranks for it not to be infiltrated by anyone perceived as an enemy of the state so that those who just wanted to earn an honest living and to make both ends meet for their families will not get affected,” Mando furthered.
To recall, aside from advancing the interest and welfare of Muslim Filipinos, Commissioner Mando is very active in peacebuilding acivities being the current spokesperson of Yes for Peace-Bayanihan ng Bayan, a consensus building and people's participation advocacy campaign that has engaged over 15 million Filipinos across the Philippines since it was initiated in 1988 by students of the University of the Philippines System.
Yes for Peace, for its part, which seeks to mobilize the people's pro-active involvement and collective participation to democratically reinforce the Whole of Nation approach towards good governance has been incorporated into the National Action Plan of the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict submitted by National Security Adviser Hermogenes C. Esperon, Jr. and approved by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. (By Jerome Carlo R. Paunan)
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