Labor group slams police for arrest of trade unionist

SAN PEDRO, Laguna — A labor group in Southern Tagalog has denounced the arrest of a worker in Rizal province, whom authorities said was an active member of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Declard Cangmaong, 36, was arrested on Monday by members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in the village of San Isidro, Angono town, Rizal.

The CIDG claimed that Cangmaong was a member of the rebel group in Western Mindanao and was facing charges of multiple murder and frustrated murder with a reward of P1.2 million.

Hermie Marasigan, spokesperson of the Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan-Kilusang Mayo Uno in a statement denied that Cangmaong was a member of the NPA but claimed that he was an “active member of an independent union in Sensuous Lingerie,” a garment factory in Calamba City, Laguna even after the said company shut down in 2008.

Marasigan also called Cangmaong’s arrest as another form of “trade union repression (through) trumped-up charges and red tagging of unionists.”

Cangmaong was staying at his sister’s home in Rizal province identified as Shiela de la Cruz when he was nabbed. “We were all horrified in the suddenness of the (arrest). Declard’s children and mine were shocked,” De la Cruz was quoted as saying.

Marasigan said Cangmaong was first taken to Fort Bonifacio and later transferred to Camp Crame the day after his arrest.

“We hope the ILO high level mission will look into the case of Cangmaong. The labor movement… believes the military and police cannot and will not help clear Cangmaong’s name but we do believe the ILO high level mission will help facilitate in doing so,” he said. –Efren Chavez, Daily Tribune