THE Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Thursday, November 18, 2021, denied the claims of Gabriela Women's Party that it manufactured and planted fake pieces of evidence during an operation against alleged members of the communist movement to link their organization to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
CIDG operatives arrested on Tuesday, November 16, six key members of the CPP-NPA during separate operations in Bulacan and Quezon City. They all have standing arrest warrants for the crimes of murder, multiple murder, homicide and arson.
Aside from various firearms recovered from their possession, police also seized several posters representing Gabriela and Bayan Muna party-lists.
However, instead of “Para sa Babae, Bata at Bayan,” which is Gabriela’s slogan, the words “Para sa babe, bata at bayan” were written on the tarpaulin.
In a statement, Gabriela disowned the tarpaulin with misspelled slogan, saying it is a “desperate” attempt of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to link them to the CPP-NPA.
“Maybe the police officers have been so accustomed to using 'babe' in their flirtatious relations with several women, or they were rushing to print the fake tarps ahead of our own printing without diligent proofreading,” it said.
“These red-tagging gimmicks, while not new, seek to place the lives and safety of our members and leaders on the line. We strongly condemn these publicly funded gimmicks and assert our firm stance against red-tagging and fake news,” it added.
CIDG Director Major General Albert Ferro maintained that the operation was legitimate and the group just wants to discredit their efforts.
He said they welcome any investigation that may be conducted regarding the matter.
“The pieces of evidence that were inadvertently found in the possession of the wanted persons were properly inventoried in the presence of barangay officials. Our personnel strictly followed the Police Operational Procedures during the operation,” said Ferro.
“The PNP neither condones planting of evidence nor does it authorize red-tagging. And the PNP has no participation in the creation of these materials,” he added.