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By FROILAN GALLARDO
Special Correspondent .

POLICE On Wednesday further traumatized participants of a two-day post-trauma session when they barged into the office of the humanitarian organization Balay Mindanaw Foundation, deploying K9 dogs to search the bags of youngsters from Marawi City.

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Balay Mindanaw Foundation president Charlito Manlupig said the youngsters who were all volunteers from Marawi City, had just finished a two-day session when the police conducted the search.

Manlupig said the volunteers already left their rooms and have placed their bags at the lobby of the Balay Mindanaw Peace Center when the police officers came.

“The K9 handler focused on inspecting the bags. They hurriedly left, again without saying a word,” Manlupig said.

Manlupig said the policemen who were all members of the Cagayan de Oro Special Weapons Action Team (Swat) did not introduce themselves and neither did they present a search warrant to the staff of Balay Mindanao in Zone 2, Barangay Bulua.

“The police officers conducted the search without saying any word. It traumatized all of our staff and the volunteers,” Manlupig said.

Cagayan de Oro police spokesperson Maj. Ivan Viñas apologized for the incident saying it was “a misunderstanding.”

Viñas promised that the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office would investigate members of the Swat team who conducted the search.

“We will sanction them if we found they committed lapses,” Viñas said.

But Viñas said Camp Alagar ordered the Swat team in Cagayan de Oro to conduct a search after the Australian Embassy in Manila informed them that one of their officials would visit the office of Balay Mindanaw.

“The search was a routine procedure. We apologized that it caused some misunderstanding,” Viñas said.

Manlupig, however, said the Australian Embassy neither inform of any visiting official nor did Balay Mindanao have a scheduled event with the Australians.

“From whom or where did the PNP get the info that we were expecting Australian dignitaries? We were expecting none. Nobody, not even the Australian Embassy informed us. We had hosted many dignitaries in the past, and we are familiar with security protocols,” Manlupig said.

Manlupig condemned what he called as an illegal search and said the group would be filing a complaint against the police officers.

“We now have a taste of martial law. Is Balay Mindanaw now considered a security threat? An enemy? Is there a deeper reason for the illegal search and trespassing?” Manlupig said.

Manlupig said it was deplorable for the Cagayan de Oro Police to conduct the search without a court warrant given that volunteers have just ended a two-day trauma session on their experiences in the 2017 siege in Marawi.

“While participants were sharing about healing and forgiveness, here are individuals from the Cagayan de Oro City Swat creating new wounds,” Manlupig said.

The search at Balay Mindanaw Peace Center came after the Army labeled Oxfam, the charity arm of a federation of churches worldwide, as “a front organization” of the New People’s Army.

Last month, the military raided offices of progressive groups in Bacolod city and arrested 62 of its officers.

Balay Mindanaw Foundation is a Filipino Mindanao-based and Mindanao focused humanitarian and development organization. It worked in most conflict-torn areas in Mindanao.

The Foundation also worked with the Armed Forces in promoting peace and human rights.

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