‘Culture
of impunity’
Fact-finding Mission Confirms Military
Rule in Mindoro
Referring
to the spate of military killings in Mindoro, former anti-bases senator and
human rights advocate Wigberto Tañada says that it is the prevailing “culture
of impunity” among military and police officers that allows a “culture of
violence” to thrive.
BY
AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat.com
 
The
accused and yet-to-be promoted Col. Jovito Palparan (left photo) sports already
a brigadier general star in a recent House hearing while Justice Undersecretary
Jose Calida (right photo, 2nd from right) makes point during a UP forum. Calida
is flanked by (l-r) Karapatan Deputy Secretary General Dani Beltran, Rep. Liza
Maza and former Sen. Wigberto Tañada. (Left photo by Raffy Rivera; Right
photo by Arkibong Bayan)
Former
Sen. Wigberto Tañada was speaking in a forum, “Murder in Mindoro,” held May
22 in Balay Kalinaw, University of the Philippines, Quezon City.
The national fact-finding mission (NFFM), organized by the Campaign Committee: Justice for
Ka Eden and Ka Eddie! and participated by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan --
New Patriotic Alliance) human rights group Karapatan, and the Malacañang-formed
Task Force Mindoro, supported Tañada’s statement.
The
groups said they found proofs of military harassment even against local
government officials.
Tañada,
one of the forum’s reactors, said that although various laws have been passed
to protect human rights, problems occur in the implementation, especially in
terms of the “political will” to implement the laws.
“Our
failure to implement the laws that should protect our rights creates the
‘culture of impunity,’” Tañada said. “This gives the military and the
police the mentality that they are beyond the reach of the law.”
Department
of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary Jose Calida, head of the Task Force Mindoro,
noted that his presence with the NFFM participants was perceived by the military
as “violation to their (military) rights.”
Despite
Calida’s presence, investigating the 204th Infantry Battalion (IB)
camp was difficult and was granted only after the former, Bayan Muna Rep. Satur
Ocampo, and more than a hundred activists who joined the NFFM insisted.
Unlikely incidents
Dani
Beltran, deputy secretary general of Karapatan, attested to this “culture of
impunity” as he related the harassment suffered by NFFM participants.
At
the Calapan port, Oriental Mindoro, Beltran recalled that intelligence agents of
the Philippine Army’s 204th Infantry Battalion under acting commander Col.
Juanito Gomez recorded with video cameras the speeches during the rally.
Beltran
also reported that aside from the two squads of military men “escorting”
them, they experienced what he called an “electric sabotage.” While
interviewing witnesses at the Gloria Municipal Hall, electricity went out. They
found that somebody poured water into the transformers, causing the power outage
from 10 pm till dawn the next day.
Visiting
the 204th IB camp, the team saw a military truck with the word
“tabak” in the plate number. According to reports, a truck with the same
description was used to help bonnet-clad military officers who harassed
residents of Brgy. Buong-Lupa, Naujan escape.
In
a letter to Calida, however, Gomez denied the existence of the truck. He also
refused to submit the names of soldiers who responded to the calls of their
reported “bonnet-clad” colleagues when they were cornered by the Philippine
National Police (PNP) in Brgy. Buong Lupa.
During
the inspection of a compound in Bansud town believed to be the site where Eden
Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy were taken, Beltran expressed doubt on the
statement of a woman claiming to own the place. The woman said that the compound
is used for religious activities but not by the military. The team however found
military equipment inside the compound.
Beltran
also worried about the two suspected NPA members earlier arrested by Col. Jovito
Palparan Jr. and accused them to be involved in an NPA ambush last March.
Beltran personally asked Gomez about the two prisoners since no charges
have been filed against them. The latter replied they have not yet talked to the
detainees and that a Colonel Gutierez will decide on it.
But
the team was surprised that the two detainees were not in jail despite the
police’s knowledge that the team will be back the next day. The team failed to
interview the prisoners after a police told them that they (prisoners) were
being “toured” by Gomez.
Meanwhile,
Calida reported that on May 8, they were supposed to investigate a certain MSgt.
Caigas on the harassment of Tambong residents including a policeman. Two men of
Tambong suspected as NPA members were beaten by identified military. Barangay
officials who responded to the incident were also hit, and a certain PO1
Carandang of Naujan was disarmed.
“Caigas
‘escaped’ together with another man identified as Gomez’s driver to avoid
such investigation,” Calida said.
The
driver admitted that he drove for Caigas’ “escape” that night.
Beltran
said that even Gloria town mayor Romeo Alvarez was not spared from the
military’s “culture of violence.” “Two hours before the abduction (of
Marcellana, Gumanoy, and others), Gomez told Alvarez to stop them (Marcellana
and company, from their fact-finding) because they will just cause trouble.”
Likewise,
Naujan town vice mayor Juvy Magsino was warned by the military that “they will
be watching him.” Magsino has been supporting investigations of human rights
violations in the province, including the murder of Bayan-Mindoro Oriental
secretary-general Edilberto "Choy" Napoles Jr. in 2002.
Findings
The
NFFM 10-page report also stated that “Marcellana and Gumanoy were summarily
executed based on the municipal health officer diagnosis that they were shot at
a close range.” It also noted the military’s “blatant disregard for
civilian authority” citing the alleged harassment and intimidation by the
military even to local officials of Mindoro, including a town policeman.
“Many
(residents) can no longer regularly go to their farms in the mountains for
fear of being accused as members and/or supporters of the New People’s Army (NPA)
and be harassed by the military,” the report stated. “The sight of
owner-type military jeepneys, vehicles with men armed with high-powered rifles,
and heavily-armed military men patrolling their area are enough to traumatize
children, families and communities affected by the intensifying militarization
in Oriental Mindoro.”
The
report maintained that “the abduction of the 11 members of the QRT and the
summary execution of Eden and Eddie by armed men posing as members of
a vigilante group could be the handiwork of military personnel under the 204th
IB" where witnesses identified one of them as Aniano "Silver"
Flores. Flores, a rebel-returnee now reportedly coddled by the military, was
implicated in killing of Napoles Jr.
Calida,
in a recent statement made before the Senate, believed that the same
“bonnet-clad” soldiers were responsible for the deaths of Marcellana and
Gumanoy.
Furthermore,
the mission condemned “the use of state terrorism against unarmed militant
organizations and civilians accused by the Armed Forces of the Philippines of
colluding with and sympathizing and supporting the New People's Army."
"The
series of killings, enforced disappearances, illegal arrests and displacements
of entire communities in Oriental Mindoro has established an undeniable pattern:
the perpetrators purposefully hide their identities, some by wearing ski
masks or bonnets and civilian clothes; they use high-powered rifles or handguns,
similar to if not the same as those issued to the military; they appear to have
undergone some form of combat training as evidenced by the way they conduct
themselves during their operations," the mission report noted.
In
the same UP forum, Sen. Vicente Sotto assured the militant groups that he,
together with nine other members of the senate minority, will block Palparan
Jr.’s promotion to brigadier general at the Commission on Appointments. Bulatlat.com
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