Breaking news: Gov’t spies found outside National Artist Bien Lumbera’s house in Quezon City

National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera (Photo courtesy of lumbera.ph)
National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera (Photo courtesy of lumbera.ph)

The family of National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera issued this statement this morning:

At around 6am, a group of men was seen taking photos of and asking information regarding National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera’s house in a subdivision in Quezon City. One of them was approached and apprehended by subdivision security officers. His companions fled as the man was being questioned. The man was found to be an enlisted AFP intelligence personnel and upon inspection of his military ID was identified as Corporal Guerrero Hannival Mosura Mondido of the Marines.

As of this writing, the man is being held for questioning by subdivision security officials and is set to be turned over to the police.

Subdivision security personnel were able to get these identification cards from Mondido:

Mondido's ID cards
Photocopies of Mondido's ID cards

A critic of the President Arroyo, Lumbera recently joined other National Artists in assailing Malacanang intervention in the National Artist awards. He is presently a convenor of Concerned Artists of the Philippines and chairperson of ACT Teachers’ Partylist.

In 1993, Lumbera won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts.

Partylist congressmen will raise the issue in today’s House appropriations committee hearings which will tackle the budget of the Department of National Defense.

UPDATE:  As of 12:00 noon, four online news outlets have reported on the incident:

Marine arrested for spying on National Artist’s house