Philippines: Judge orders release of five of the 17 arrested during the Tumandok massacre over resistance to Jalaur Mega Dam
'Capiz court voids search from 'warrant factory,' frees tribesmen', 13 July 2021
A court in Capiz voided five search warrants issued by the so-called "warrant factory" in Manila, and freed members of the Tumandok tribe who were arrested in December 2020 as a part of a police crackdown on activists and community organizers. Two separate resolutions by Mambusao, Capiz Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 21 quashed the search warrants for Eleutera Caro, Jucie Caro, Rollen Catamin, Marilou Catamin, and Marivic Aguirre – five of the total 17 Tumandok tribespeople arrested on December 30, 2020 during simultaneous raids.Nine members of the Tumandok tribe died during the raids because they allegedly resisted arrest. This was the same narrative used for March 7, 2021 – what is now known as the Bloody Sunday killings in Calabarzon where nine activists died during the searches... Judge Leonor voided the search warrants because they "did not satisfy the constitutional requirement of definiteness or particularity." ...