CIDG issues apology over columnist Margarita Valle’s wrongful arrest

The columnist was released later that day after the cops realized that she was not the person they were supposed to arrest. (File photo: National Union of Journalists of the Philippines/Facebook)

The Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) issued an apology on Monday, June 10, for arresting Davao-based columnist Margarita Valle by mistake.

In his statement, CIDG Region 9 chief Colonel Tom Tuzon said he would like to extend his “sincerest apologies” to Valle for the “negative experience” she had with the CIDG personnel.

Valle was arrested on Sunday, June 9, at Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental on the basis of an arrest warrant for multiple murder with quadruple frustrated murder, destruction of government property, and arson. The columnist was released later that day after the cops realized that she was not the person they were supposed to arrest.

“Due to uncertainties and less than 100% assurance of your identity from our informant, we have brought you to CIDG Office, Pagadian City that caused you unnecessary anxiety. We do realize that we should have headed your call regarding your identity from the start and have released you at the airport,” Tuzon said.

“We sincerely request your understanding since that the information given to our detectives on the ground is already a Warrant of Arrest and that the identity of the person on the warrant is only known to the complainant himself,” he continued.

Tuzon also said although the information they obtained came from a reliable source, as investigators, they should have validated it first before arresting the person.

He added that they are looking into the recent police operation to determine their “lapses” and to prevent the mistaken identity case from happening again.

“Any misconduct related to your arrest will be dealt with accordingly,” Tuzon stressed.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), meanwhile, had condemned “Valle’s abduction and the CIDG’s violation of her basic rights.”

“How else do authorities explain why Ms. Valle was held incommunicado for hours even as the police issued a statement saying she was facing multiple crimes from a decade ago, only to admit they had the wrong person?” the group said, adding, “This is the equivalent of ‘shoot now, ask questions later.'”

The NUJP demanded that the police and military personnel involved in the operation, as well as their superiors, “be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law.”