Student files complaint over alleged police, municipal harassment

TACLOBAN CITY — A student leader filed a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) regional office in Eastern Visayas against a member of the Tacloban City Police Office and personnel of the Babatngon Municipal Office for allegedly harassing and intimidating his family.

A fourth-year political science student at Leyte Normal University said the harassment followed his participation in the “Baha sa Tacloban” anti-corruption rally organized by the Kabataan Party List on 30 November.

The student said the policeman and the municipal employee went to their house on 1 December, warning his mother about his participation in the rally and asking her to dissuade him from joining similar activities in the future.

They also inquired about his membership in other student organizations, alleging he is a “financier” of these groups.

The student is an officer of Junior Jaycees (JJC) Waraynon, a non-partisan youth environmental organization.

He said he now feels unsafe going out due to the incident.

The CHR, in a letter sent to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Regional Office and furnished to the Babatngon Municipal Police and the Tacloban City Police Office, stated that the student’s participation in assemblies and legitimate organizations are lawful activities recognized under the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Leyte Normal University’s student publication An Lantawan reported that two other student leaders from the university have experienced harassment in the past.

A student regent also reported that four individuals who claimed to be military personnel, accompanied by their barangay captain and another who said he was a former New People’s Army rebel, visited their house on 4 August 2025, accusing him of being a member of the communist group based on his social media posts.