INW.- Windel Bolinget, an indigenous rights defender and director of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) has surrendered yesterday to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) of the Philippines.
In a Facebook statement, CPA says: “Windel Bolinget voluntarily submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for security while proving his innocence from the fabricated case he is charged with.”
According to International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) a global human rights organization: “a trumped-up case of murder against Bolinget was filed by a police officer in a court in Tagum City, Davao Del Norte, the Philippines in (August) 2020.”
The human rights defender and nine other individuals are being accused of killing Garito Tiklonay Malibato on March 22, 2018.
Mr Bolinget has been leading many of CPA’s campaigns against human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings, trumped-up cases, enforced disappearance, harassment, and intimidation of Cordillera indigenous peoples.
He has also been at the forefront of local movements against large-scale mining projects, mega-dams and other projects that pose a threat to the environment.
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