Labor
Leader Nabbed, Tagged in NPA Raid in Leyte
A labor leader in
Eastern Visayas revealed in a Jan. 14 news conference that members of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the region had abducted him last
Jan. 8 and accused him of participating in the Jan. 7 raid of a military
detachment in Albuera, Northern Leyte by New People's Army (NPA)
guerrillas.
BY BULATLAT
A labor leader in
Eastern Visayas revealed in a Jan. 14 news conference in Quezon City that
members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the region had
abducted him last Jan. 8 and accused him of participating in the Jan. 7
raid of a military detachment in Albuera, Northern Leyte by New People's
Army (NPA) guerrillas.
The militant labor
center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May First Movement) also blamed Jan. 14
AFP soldiers in Eastern Visayas as suspects for the abduction and
interrogation of Rafael Tarroza, KMU’s regional chairperson in the region.
Tarroza said he was
abducted by eight armed men at about 10 a.m. last Jan. 8 while on his way
to the National Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU-KMU) office in Libertad,
Ormoc
City. He was to write the federation’s
position paper on the illegal dismissal of a woman employee belonging to
one of their member unions. He said he was blindfolded and brought to a
safehouse.
Based on his account,
the armed men held him for almost six hours where he endured continuous
interrogation. “I was blindfolded and handcuffed. Tinutukan pa nila ako
ng .45 baril at tinadyakan papasok sa Tamaraw FX” (They poked a gun
at me and even kicked me into a Tamaraw FX van), Tarroza said.
Tarroza said his
abductors asked him questions related to the Jan. 7 NPA raid. “I am
certain that the men who abducted me are members of the military," he
said. "I recognized one of them as an intelligence agent whom I see
following me in various occasions. The military are monitoring my actions
and schedules.”
“They forced me to
admit participation in the raid and told me they would bury me alive if I
don’t tell them the truth," Tarroza added. "They also told me that if I
cooperate and give them information about my work and my colleagues, they
will ensure my safety and my family’s as well. They want me to be an
informant for the military. I know very well that I am no longer safe in
Leyte. I also fear for the safety of my family and my fellow KMU members
in Eastern Visayas.”
Tarroza said he
asserted to his abductors that his work is confined to trade union work in
Eastern Visayas. “As the regional chairman of (NAFLU-KMU), my work is to
organize labor unions and assist in labor disputes, collective bargaining
agreements and to do other work related to trade union and legal
progressive mass movement,” he recalls having told his abductors.
The labor leader said
he was released at around 4 p.m. that same day, on condition that he would
contact his abductors the next day.
He said his abductors
are still sending him text messages and warning letters to his family.
Meanwhile, KMU
executive vice president Joselito Ustarez said that what happened to
Tarroza is "a clear violation of human rights perpetrated by no less than
the AFP and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government against a legitimate labor
leader."
Ustarez also said KMU
will investigateTarroza’s case and will file legal actions against
military units in Leyte. Bulatlat
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