
‘Palit-ulo’ is the practice of arresting and charging family members when the police fail to apprehend a suspect, a common pattern which Karapatan traced to the administration of Rodrigo Duterte at the height of the drug war.
By DOMINIC GUTOMAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – It has been almost two months since the abduction of 24-year-old Bicolano Gerald Gastole in Barangay Chrysanthemum, San Pedro, Laguna, and a human rights group traced the same pattern of seizure to state agents.
“Gestole was abducted in a manner similar to the seizure of other victims whose assailants were State security agents,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.
It was the local chapter of Karapatan (Bicol) that reported the incident. On November 17, 2024, Gestole and his brother Leo had just gotten off a public utility vehicle when an unidentified man suddenly grabbed the victim and forced him inside a white L300 van. Leo attempted to help his brother escape but they were outnumbered by three other men who dragged Gerald inside the vehicle.
As Leo succeeded in escaping, he reported the incident to their mother Geraldine. Together, they reported the abduction with the Barangay of San Pedro, but they were endorsed to the Philippine National Police (PNP) San Pedro to file a blotter report.
PNP San Pedro then volunteered to send home Leo and Geraldine. However, the family felt that they became the subjects of investigation. They were compelled to allow the PNP at their home, who “randomly searched for their belongings for the alleged presence of illegal firearms and explosives.”
After a few hours, Geraldine received a phone call and she was surprised to hear the voice of her missing son. During their conversation, the voice allegedly from Gestole, said that he was abducted by his known “rebel returnees” from Sorsogon. Days after, the voice on the other line, also insisted that their father should surrender to the police.
The family later learned, through documents retrieved from the Sorsogon Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 65 in Bulan, that Gestole’s father is facing multiple cases filed by the 22nd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in the province of Sorsogon in October 2024.
“What is more alarming, however, is the palit-ulo scheme that is apparently at work here,” Palabay added in a statement. “We decry this obvious palit-ulo modus by the military and the police.”
‘Palit-ulo’ is the practice of arresting and charging family members when the police fail to apprehend a suspect, a common pattern which Karapatan traced to the administration of Rodrigo Duterte at the height of the drug war. The objective of this practice is to allegedly pressure the original suspect to surrender.
The group also underscored that the police, whom the family trusted, were treating the victims’ family as suspects when the latter initially reported the incident to their office.
“Gestole’s abduction, and the threats and harassment against his family, only add to the long list of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law perpetrated by the Marcos Jr. regime,” Palabay said. “We demand that the authorities surface Gestole and allow him to reunite with his family. We also demand a stop to the nefarious palit-ulo scheme.”
The New People’s Army (NPA) Sorsogon also said that Gestole was a guerilla on medical leave. He was granted medical leave in October due to his health condition, making him “hors de combat” (out of combat).
“A person who is recognized or who, in the circumstances, should be recognized to be hors de combat shall not be made the object of attack,” the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) stated, particularly in Article 41 of the Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Convention.
IHL is also known as the rules of war that seek to limit the effects of armed conflict. It lays out the responsibilities of states and non-state armed groups during an armed conflict.
NPA Sorsogon demanded Gestole’s immediate surfacing. “Gestole should be brought to court if any case was filed against him instead of keeping him in a secret location,” said Samuel Guerrero, NPA-Sorsogon spokesperson. (RTS, RVO)