June 25 2021
Peasant advocate Carmilo Tabada, a barangay councilor and the program coordinator for Bohol of the Central Visayas Farmers Development Center (FARDEC), was arrested in his home in Trinidad, Bohol at 1:00am today, June 25.
A composite team of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reportedly planted firearms and explosives in his home.
Tabada is now detained at the Trinidad Police Station.
In March 2021, Tabada was subjected to an anti-communist rally in front of his house, with the rallyists claiming that he was hiding firearms. (Read: https://www.facebook.com/…/a.1275…/10157545800062331/…)
FARDEC reports that since this incident at Tabada’s home, red-tagging and surveillance of Tabada has increased.
Tabada has been a member of FARDEC since 1998. According to FARDEC, Tabada has contributed significantly to the rice mill in Trinidad, which aided farmers’ orgs like Nagkahiusang Mag-uuma sa San Jose (NAMASAJO) in setting rice prices and breaking buyers’ monopolies before the rice mill’s forced closure in December 2020.
FARDEC has previously been red-tagged by government agencies in 2019. In June 2020, Elena Tijamo, the Sustainable Agriculture Program Coordinator of FARDEC, was also abducted from her home in Bantayan Island, Cebu. She remains missing to this day.
Aninaw Productions also earlier reported the arrest of UCCP pastor Nathaniel Vallente in his home in San Jose, Mabini, Bohol at 3:00am today. Vallente is a counselor for NAMASAJO. (Read: https://www.facebook.com/118591512330/posts/10157718393717331/?d=n)
FARDEC says the midnight raids is similar to the Synchronized Enhanced Managing of Police Operations (SEMPO) of Negros Oriental and other parts of the country.
