Cops, soldiers in labor leader’s death face murder raps
THE Department of Justice’s AO35 Task Force has recommended the filing of murder charges against several law enforcement agents implicated in the death of labor and multi-sectoral leader Emmanuel Asuncion, one of the nine activists killed during the March 7, 2021 Calabarzon raids.
“In the case of the death of Emmanuel Asuncion, the AO 35 special investigating team (SIT) has recommended the filing of murder charges against certain law enforcement agents involved in the incident,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Wednesday when asked about updates on the task force’s investigation into the Calabarzon raids or the so-called ” Bloody Sunday” raids.
Guevarra continued: “The SIT will file the complaint for preliminary investigation. By this time, the SIT may have already done so.”
Investigating teams under AO (Administrative Order) 35 Task Force have been created to simultaneously probe the death of nine activists in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Rizal.
The AO 35 task force is a special unit of the DOJ that conducts an investigation into politically-motivated killings or extrajudicial killings of members of civil society groups, political movements, people’s and non-government organizations, among others.
On March 7, 2021, authorities conducted simultaneous raids in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal that resulted to the deaths of nine (9) activists and arrests of scores of others.
Reports showed that authorities were able to recover explosives, several firearms, and subversive documents during the March 7 operations in Calabarzon.
The simultaneous raids were carried out by the Philippine National Police together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to serve search warrants for loose firearms and illegal possession of explosives.
