Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 18 June 6 - 12, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
Human
Rights Watch 51
Murder Charges Filed vs AFP
While
the nation feasted on the election canvassing in Congress, the offices of the
Joint Monitoring Committee of both government and the National Democratic Front
were inaugurated in Quezon City June 4. Expect the Macapagal-Arroyo government
to face a deluge of criminal charges by families of victims of human rights
violations in the next few weeks. by
dabet castañeda
Peasant leader Orly Marcellana whose wife Eden was killed last year was among the many families of human rights violation victims who trooped to the JMC opening to file a case (left). A human rights worker accompanies Nimfa Magsino, sister-in-law of slain Naujan, Mindoro Oriental vice mayorJuvy Magsino (right). Expect
the Macapagal-Arroyo government to face a deluge of criminal charges by families
of victims of human rights violations in the next few weeks. Reason: The offices
of the Joint Secretariat of the Joint Monitoring Committee of both government
and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) have been
inaugurated. On
June 4 alone – the day the JMC offices located in a building in Cubao, Quezon
City were inaugurated – 51 cases were filed by surviving families and human
rights groups before the JMC of the Government of the Republic of the
Philippines (GRP). The main respondent in the cases was the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP). None
was filed so far with the NDFP-JMC against the New People’s Army (NPA), the
armed component of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Among
the early complainants who also witnessed the JMC inuaguration was Dee Ayroso,
wife of former student activist and political detainee Honor Ayroso.
Honor, together with Johnny Orcino Jr., was abducted by suspected
soldiers from the 71st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA)
on the night of Feb. 9, 2002. The
two have not surfaced since. Fighting
back tears as she filled up the complaint form, Dee said
“Mabuti pa sila may bangkay, kami wala,” Dee said referring to
families of other victims whose bodies were recovered.
“Alam ko naman na ang estado ang may kasalanan sa pagkawala ng asawa
ko pero nasasaktan pa rin ako hanggang ngayon kasi kahit hinanap ko sya, hindi
ko sya nakita” (I know that government is behind my husband’s
disappearance but I still feel bad because I haven’t seen his body), she said.
Other
complainants were families of victims killed in the militarized province of
Mindoro Oriental. Orly Marcellana and Roseann Gumanoy filed a case against Brig.
Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. for the twin killings of human rights leader Eden
Marcellana (Orly’s wife) and peasant leader Eddie Gumanoy in April 2003. Until
he was promoted to brigadier general by Macapagal-Arroyo, Palparan was a colonel
who served as former commanding officer of the 204th Infantry Brigade
of the Philippine Army (IBPA) operating in Mindoro Oriental. Ediberto
Napoles Sr. filed a case against the same military officer for the murder of his
son, Bayan Muna coordinator Choy Napoles. Nympha
Magsino, sister-in-law of assassinated Naujan vice mayor Juvy Magsino, and
Erlinda Manano, mother of Anakpawis coordinator Isaias Manano, filed two
separate cases of murder against Col. Fernando Mesa who took over the post of
Palparan. Four
massacres Ariel
Casilao, secretary general of the human rights alliance Karapatan-Southern
Mindanao Region (SMR) flew all the way from Davao in southern Philippines to
file cases in behalf of the victims in the region. He arrived at the
inauguration just in time to file 10 cases including one against Lt. Col.
Edgardo Gonzales, commanding officer of the 60th IBPA which operates
in SMR. The same Army unit, Karapatan said, was responsible for the “Mawab
Four” massacre in 1999 that killed Godofredo Guimbaolibot, Roland Jubajib,
Engr. Edwin Asion and Mariano Diamante. Karapatan-SMR
filed other charges against Gonzales including the Laac massacre and forced mass
evacuation in New Bataan in 2004. Maj. Nixon Fortes was charged with the
Bagangga massacre on Aug. 18, 2003 where three minors were killed.
Karapatan-SMR
also filed a case against Col. Alen Capuyan, former chief of the Military
Intelligence Group-SMR, whom the group found accountable for the Maco Four
massacre in 2003. Four members of the militant youth party Anak ng Bayan
(nation’s youth) were killed in that incident: Marjorie Reynoso, Lito Doydoy,
Jonathan Benro and Ramon Ragare Jr. Casilao
also filed a case in behalf of the family of slain human rights worker and
journalist Benjaline Hernandez. Hernandez, an Ateneo student and vice president
of the College Editors of the Philippines (CDGP), was mowed down along with two
others without mercy in April 2002 in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato by
paramilitary men, villagers testified. Girlie
Padilla, acting secretary general of the church-based Ecumenical Movement for
Justice and Peace (EMJP), filed 36 cases including one in behalf of the family
of Leonardo Rodriguez, a peasant organizer also from Mindoro Oriental.
The
Mindanao-based human rights group InPeace (Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao)
filed cases in behalf of the victims of the bombings in the Davao Domestic
Airport and the Sasa warf both in 2003. Unprepared
Carla
Munsayac, head of the Nominated Section of the GRP-JMC, explained that the forms
were left at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
in Ortigas, Pasig. Complaint forms were made available at around 2 p.m. Until
offices were closed at 5 p.m. the Nominated Section of the NDFP-JMC had received
no complaints of human rights and international humanitarian law. Despite
being alluded to as a human rights violator by the international human rights
group Amnesty International (AI), no cases were filed against the communist
guerillas on opening day. The
AI, in its 2004 report, included the NPA in its list of human rights violators
in the Philippines particularly pertaining to the case of Romulo Kintanar,
former NPA cadre-turned-military asset. The
NPA had owned up to the killing that took place in 2003. In
an exclusive interview with Bulatlat.com, Fidel Agcaoili, chair of the
NDFP-Monitoring Committee, said any member of the Kintanar family or
organization can file a case against the NPA at the JMC if they think there was
a violation of the rights of Kintanar. But
the NDF leader was quick to say “We don’t believe there was any violation of
human rights in that particular case.” He said the case underwent the judicial
process of the NDF: a case was filed before the people’s court, people’s
prosecutors looked into the case and found sufficient basis in filing a case
against him. “Unfortunately,
the warrant for his arrest was not immediately served because he had armed
himself to the teeth,” he said. He
added that when there was an opportunity to arrest him, Kintanar fought back and
that caused his death. Belligerency
status But
the NDF leader also added that the inclusion of the CPP-NPA in the list of human
rights violators is a tacit recognition of the NDF’s belligerency status.
“It is a recognition that the NDF has political authority and that it
exercises this authority over some territories in the Philippines,” he said. He explained that human rights violations are usually against the state. “It is actually state terrorism, but if they claim that we have committed human rights violations, let them file and we will consider,” he said.
Norway
serves as third party facilitator in the GRP-NDFP peace talks and is funding the
joint committee offices. Agcaoili,
on the other hand, thanked the Norwegian government for helping set up the Joint
Secretariat office. Lawyer
Carlos Medina, chair of the GRP-Monitoring Committee, said the significance of
the setting up of the Joint Secretariat office is that “there already is a
physical base where people can go to file complaints on human rights and
international humanitarian law.” Both
Medina and Agcaoili agreed that the success of the JMC is largely dependent on
the support it could get from the Filipino people.
“We
cannot move forward without the help of the public,” Agcaoili said during the
press conference held after the Joint Secretariat office was formally
inaugurated. Most
Rev. Bishop Honesto F. Tionco, DD, of the Diocese of Cubao, officiated the
opening rites attended by at least 100 officials from both GRP and NDFP, human
rights groups and families of victims. Cases
of human rights violations against either the GRP or NDFP are retroactive to
1998, the year the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and
International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) was forged between the two parties. Complaints
are to be received by both parties and, subject to screening, can lead to an
investigation. If it warrants, the case can be pursued for adjudication by
either the GRP or NDFP through its respective court system. The
JMC was operationalized last February 2004 and is tasked to monitor the
implementation of CARHRIHL. The JMC is composed of three members from the GRP and three from the NDFP. In addition are two representatives from human rights organizations each nominated by the parties who will sit in the committee as observers. Bulatlat.com Photos by Arkibong Bayan We want to know what you think of this article.
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