The Killing Fields of Central Luzon
The murder of another peasant leader in Pampanga – the home province
of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo- brings to 13 the total number of
orchestrated killings in Central Luzon since the start of the year.
Five individuals from the same region have been abducted since and all
of them are missing to this day as the trail of blood flows in today's
killing fields.
BY DABET CASTAÑEDA
[From: Bulatlat (Quezon City) Vol. V, No. 7, 20-26 March 2005]
He was a sick old man suffering from rheumatic heart disease and acute
emphysema (a lung disorder) and had just been discharged from the
hospital. At 6:45 p.m. March 17, Victor Concepcion, 68, was resting in
his daughter's house in Angeles City, 83 kms north of Manila, to
recuperate when a gunman aimed a gun at him and fired several shots.
He received five bullets including three in the chest. He died on the
spot.
Concepcion – Tang Ben to friends – was a peasant leader of the local
chapter of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP or Peasant Movement
in the Philippines). He thus became No. 13 in the list of individuals
killed in Central Luzon since January, the fifth in Pampanga province
alone. Angeles is 40 minutes away from Tarlac City – scene of the
latest spate of killings ensuing from the Hacienda Luisita strike.
Central Luzon has in fact apparently become the target of political
repression since the sugar mill and plantation workers of Luisita -
the 6,443-ha estate – went on strike Nov. 6 last year.
In a violent dispersal try by police and military elements on Nov 16,
at least seven sugar workers lay dead in front of the main gate of the
estate's sugar central, the Central Azucarrera de Tarlac (CAT), while
scores of others were wounded or have disappeared.
Violations of civil and political rights have become wanton in the
region since then – five disappearances, five murder attempts, one
frustrated massacre, and 21 extra-judicial killings. This has prompted
multi-sectoral leaders to accuse the government of Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo and its armed forces of genocidal attacks against the
people.
Natural resources
The region lies between Manila and Northern Luzon, the longest
contiguous area of lowlands. Its plains produce one-third of the
country's total rice production and the third largest in aquaculture
production.
Composed of seven provinces – Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija,
Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales – Central Luzon has six cities and 116
municipalities. San Fernando City in Pampanga is the regional capital.
It is also here that the country's largest sugar plantation is found –
the Hacienda Luisita owned and operated by the family of former
President Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino. The CAT is the country's third
largest sugar central.
Threat to national security
After the Nov. 16 massacre, the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) commanded by Gen. Romeo
Dominguez declared the strike as a threat to "national security."
In a press briefing Jan 22 in its headquarters inside Camp Servillano
Aquino, just across the entrance leading to the hacienda, Nolcom
officials accused the strikers as being instigated by the Communist
Party of the Philippines (CPP), its armed wing, the New People's Army
(NPA), and its political arm, the National Democratic Front of the
Philippines (NDFP).
The strike, their press briefing statement said, was a "handiwork well
orchestrated" by the CPP-NPA-NDFP. They named the Kilusang Mayo Uno
(KMU or May First Movement), KMP, its regional counterpart, the
Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL or Central Luzon
Peasant Alliance), and its local chapter in the hacienda, the Alyansa
ng mga Maggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala or Alliance of
Farm Workers in Hacienda Luisita) as the Left's "front organizations."
Lumped with them were the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or
National Patriotic Alliance), some of its electoral representatives –
Bayan Muna (People First) and Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) - and other
affiliated organizations. The Nolcom list also included the human
rights alliance Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples'
Rights).
Others included in the Nolcom list was Tarlac City Councilor Abel
Ladera who the authorities said, was the "contact person" of the
CPP-NPA in Hacienda Luisita. United Nations' Judge ad litem Romeo
Capulong was fingered as a supporter who would elevate the issue of
Hacienda Luisita to the international forum. The prominent human
rights lawyer acts as senior consultant of the sugar farm and mill
workers in the ongoing negotiations between the strikers and the
Cojuangcos.
In a statement, Bayan-Tarlac called the Nolcom list an open threat to
those supporting the demand of the Hacienda Luisita folk for better
wages and genuine land reform.
Consummating this threat was the murder of Ladera at high noon of
March 3 and the continuous harassment and intimidation on Capulong
highlighted by an attempt on his life on March 7 in his home in Nueva
Ecija.
Killing fields
In Dingalan, Aurora province, Chrispin Amazona, 40, of Barangay
Umiray, was last seen by relatives and friends on Feb. 14. Two days
later, his body was found along the street in Amucao, Tarlac City.
Relatives said Amazona's hands were tied and his body wrapped in a
black plastic bag with his name and the words "Hacienda Luisita." He
had bullet wounds in the head and chest.
A report from the Karapatan-Central Luzon chapter said Amazona led his
neighbors in organizing an association that would help victims of the
recent calamity that hit their place. He was also the coordinator of
the party-list group Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) in Dingalan.
Indigenous peoples have not been spared from the treacherous acts of
the military, Karapatan said. On Feb 20, an unidentified gunman killed
Rodel Pelayo, 30, and Joey Abraham, 28, both members of the Central
Luzon Aeta Association (CLAA) in Balanga, Bataan, 123 kms north of Manila.
On the same day before the two killings occurred, the human rights
report said the two Aetas were "invited" by a certain Mr. Borja and
Mr. Toledo, soldiers from the 24th Infantry Battalion of the
Philippine Army (IBPA) to an "oath taking of NPA mass surrenderees."
The two were apparently killed as they headed back to their home after
the swearing in.
Bonnet-wearing murderers
Prominent mass leaders are not the only victims, however. Karapatan
records show that burly men clad in civilian clothes with their heads
covered by bonnets or ski masks have not spared the common folk from
the worst forms of human rights violations. In the past two years,
bonnet-wearing death squads roamed, frightened and killed progressive
leaders and human rights workers in Southern Tagalog, particularly in
the twin-provinces of Mindoro.
In San Ildefonso, Bulacan, 66 kms north of Manila, four armed men in
civilian clothes with faces covered by bonnets barged into the house
of Pablito Ignacio, 44.
Ignacio's daughter, Aileen, told Karapatan that the armed men asked
her father to surrender his gun. Saying that he had none, Ignacio was
dragged into the kitchen.
A few seconds later, Aileen said she shouted and panicked when she
heard a lone gunshot from where her father was. A few more seconds
and she heard two more gunshots after which the four armed men left.
It was only then that Aileen ran to the kitchen. She saw her father
bleeding profusely. The victim was a member of the local chapter of
the party-list group Anakpawis.
In Guagua, Pampanga, 77 kms north of Manila, four bonnet-wearing men
on board a car with no plate, sprayed bullets into a tricycle driven
by Rodrigo Lampa, 40.
Witnesses said Lampa sustained bullet wounds on his head and knees
causing his death. The victim was an active member of a local peasant
organization.
Disappearances
Disappearances, the worst form of human rights violations, are
increasing in this region at an alarming rate.
At around 5 p.m. Feb 11, two men on board a dark blue van and armed
with .45 cal. pistols abducted 53-year old Esteban Pastor, a tricycle
driver and active member of the party-list group Bayan Muna.
When his family made the rounds in police stations to look for him,
they found out Pastor has been in the list of the military's OB (Order
of Battle) since August 2004.
Since January, there have been five victims of disappearances, all of
whom have yet to surface to this day. The most recent of them is
another Bayan Muna leader, Danilo Macapagal, a distant relative and a
known critic of the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Fair game
Militant party-list groups Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela Women's
Party, whose members have been the subject of what they called
intolerant, exploitative and despotic attacks have demanded a dialogue
with the President and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Efren Abu.
In a statement, the groups specifically pointed out Nolcom commander
Dominguez as the mastermind behind the vicious and orchestrated
killings, abductions, intimidation and other cowardly acts perpetrated
against their members and civilian supporters in the region and elsewhere.
The groups also expressed alarm that the military establishment, with
Malacañang approval, has seemingly adopted an unwritten policy of not
discriminating between the underground, armed revolutionary groups and
unarmed civilians. These, they said, has led to a bloody crackdown on
militant people's organizations making them open targets of the
military's lethal attacks. Bulatlat
http://www.bulatlat.net/news/5-7/5-7-luzon.html
......................................................................
War on Terror as Reign of Terror
In Central Luzon north of Manila, there's hardly a week without a
throng of mourners joining a funeral to bury someone. That someone is
a farm worker, a peasant leader, even a priest or a city councilor.
Most of those to be buried are affiliated with progressive party-list
groups. All were felled by an assassin's bullet.
By Bobby Tuazon
[From: Bulatlat (Quezon City) Vol. V, No. 7, 20-26 March 2005]
In Central Luzon north of Manila, there's hardly a week without a
throng of mourners ambling their way in a funeral to bury someone.
That someone is a farm worker, a peasant leader, even a priest or a
city councilor. Most of those to be buried are affiliated with
progressive party-list groups. All were felled by an assassin's
bullet. All killings were executed professionally. In varying degrees,
similar scenes are taking place in other provinces – in La Union,
Leyte, Quezon and elsewhere.
Since January this year, at least 14 have been buried in Central Luzon
region alone; others were abducted without a trace. Similar cases have
happened elsewhere. Romeo T. Capulong, a well-known human rights
lawyer and UN judge ad litem, nearly met the same fate: his would-be
assassins sped away on board a van after sensing that the lawyer's
house was guarded by sympathetic barangay tanods (village security unit).
In just two weeks, three of the victims were gunned down one after the
other: Young Tarlac Councilor Abelardo Ladera, Fr. William Tadena and
peasant leader Victor "Tang Ben" Concepcion. All three had supported
the strike of the farm workers at Hacienda Luisita, 120 kms north of
Manila. Though sickly at 67, Concepcion was serving as secretary
general of the peasant group Aguman da reng Maglalautang Capampangan
and coordinator of the Anakpawis political party when he was
assassinated in Angeles City.
The dead, or those who have disappeared, are no ordinary souls – they
earned the ire of the powers-that-be for fighting a cause. That cause
is either asking for what is rightfully theirs - decent wages and a
small lot to farm, as in Hacienda Luisita; or protesting human rights
violations and the militarization of many rural towns; or organizing
communities for the next electoral struggle. All were unarmed, were
loved by their mass of constituents and belonged to legitimate and
increasingly popular organizations. They were outspoken against other
issues – like the onerous VAT that the government wants enforced for
debt-servicing or the continuing war games between government and U.S.
forces.
Politically-motivated
In short, their killings were politically-motivated. This is no
martial law - but it could be worse than martial law itself. Is it
low-intensity conflict (LIC) Part 2 or is it the "Indonesian solution"?
In a country that has seen no real difference between the martial law
period in the 1970s-1980s and today in terms of continuing rights
violations, the recent killings, disappearances and other cases appear
to be premeditated by a campaign to stifle dissent and dismantle the
legal apparatus of the progressive movement in the Philippines.
Under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the killing and abduction of
progressive leaders and activists affiliated with the people's
democratic movement (now totaling, conservatively, at least 100) all
over the country began to escalate after Bayan Muna (people first)
topped the May 2001 party-list elections. The spate of killings where
the victims included human rights advocates, lawyers and local
officials began in Oriental Mindoro, an island province west of Manila.
Shortly thereafter, a newsletter of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) named several people's organizations and party-list
groups – the same groups that helped bring Macapagal-Arroyo to the
presidency in the successful oust-Estrada movement – as "terrorist"
groups that should be "neutralized." "Neutralize" in the military
parlance is to be silenced or, in the fascist mindset, to mark for
"liquidation."
War on terror
Macapagal-Arroyo's "war on terror" – following U.S. President George
W. Bush's declaring the Philippines as the "second front" in his
global and indefinite "war on terror" – began to target not only the
bandit Abu Sayyaf group but also militant leaders and activists. In
her national security policy, militant people's organizations were
lumped with the New People's Army (NPA) as the country's top "national
security threat" even as the NPA itself, through the recommendation of
defense and military officials, was included in the foreign terrorist
organization lists of the U.S. state department and other foreign
governments.
Activists cannot forget the time when the President called labor
leader and now representative Crispin Beltran as a "communist" simply
because he disagreed with her anti-people policies and was supporting
a transport strike. With this tag, Beltran became a fair target of
military assassination.
The renewed country-insurgency policy – now renamed as "anti-terror"
campaign – adopted by Macapagal-Arroyo and AFP intensified the use of
psywar tactics to demonize the legitimate people's organizations
particularly the party-list groups as "terrorist" or "terrorist
fronts." At the same time, the AFP called for the organizing of more
paramilitary units even as, coincidentally, the arming and deployment
of anti-communist fanatics and vigilantes – often including members of
factions who had bolted from the NPA – was also begun. Meantime, U.S.
military aid was increased and U.S.-directed military training began
to focus on counter-insurgency strategy and tactics. Most recently,
the joint war exercises began to be held in known NPA turfs such as in
Central and Southern Luzon.
No coincidence
It was no coincidence that as this national security policy was – and
continues to be – in effect, scores of extra-judicial killings and
abductions involving mass leaders and activists took place. But this
demonization and vicious campaign directed against government's most
effective critics and adversary proved to be not the only component of
government's security policy. The brutal solution to political dissent
and the revolutionary movement also required legitimization a la
Marcos PDs through the enactment of an anti-terrorism bill (ATB) and
the revival of the bill for a national ID system. Essentially the ATB
seeks to eliminate the boundary between simple political dissent and
"terrorism" and equate the assertion of one's bill of rights with
abetting or as an act of terrorism. Now the AFP hierarchy wants a
media gag on the coverage of "terrorist," i.e. critical issues,
included in the proposed ATB.
While the use of violence has become rampant, the government is luring
the underground Left through the National Democratic Front of the
Philippines (NDFP) to go back to the peace negotiations. But the
objective of the government and defense-military officials is to
pressure the NDFP to capitulate not only by the widespread use of
violence against the Left's alleged front organizations but by
dangling the terrorist label: The underground Left including NDFP
senior political consultant Jose Maria Sison will be scrapped from the
list if they capitulate.
The spate of killings reportedly perpetrated by the military and other
state forces has not gone unnoticed in Congress, the Commission on
Human Rights, the justice department as well as in a number of
international bodies and rights watchdogs such as the Amnesty
International most of whom agree that government forces are major
human rights violators. But a general policy of denial and
indifference pervades at the highest levels of government and, in
fact, Macapagal-Arroyo herself is endorsing the reign of terror
against legitimate dissent by rewarding the alleged perpetrators with
promotions and with continuing pledges of salary increases for AFP
generals.
Logistics and record
The systematic killing of mass leaders and activists can be sustained
on a nationwide scale only by an institution that has both the
logistics and the carte blanche or blanket authority to commit such
atrocities with impunity without being held accountable. It is the
AFP, based on human rights reports here and abroad, that has the
record of atrocities which appear to be backed by a security policy
and which began with Marcos rule and continued by the dictator's
successors' "total war" policy and "war on terror." As Capulong would
put it, one does not need concrete evidence to prove that state
terrorism is taking place all over the country – the "pattern and
practice" of endless killings and abductions already attests to it.
In Central Luzon, the Luisita land and labor issues and government's
own interest to build a multi-million highway linking the region's
so-called industrial and trade zones harmonized with the military's
anti-terror campaign. This congruence of interests has erupted in mass
killings – 12 have so far been murdered including the seven farm
workers who were massacred by security forces on Nov. 16 last year.
The Cojuangco-Aquino family which owns the Hacienda Luisita is closely
allied to the incumbent President.
But if government believes that its provocative actions and the
application of what by indications is developing to be an "Indonesian
solution"* will force the Left to finally give up its cause then it
should perhaps think again. Repression during the Marcos dictatorship
enflamed the people more and, as the guerrillas said then, Marcos
became the biggest recruiter for the NPA. Bulatlat
(*"Indonesian solution" refers to the summary execution of some
500,000 suspected communists in Indonesia in 1965, with the chief
architect, General Soeharto, taking power thereafter. The Soeharto
dictatorship, backed by the U.S. government, lasted until 1998.)
http://www.bulatlat.net/news/5-7/5-7-terror.html
.....................................................................
Undeclared War vs Progressives Condemned
Just Like in the Old (Martial Law) Days
The government is waging an undeclared war against progressive groups,
according to the various party-list, human rights, church and
journalists' groups that met last week.
by Ronald B. Escanlar
[From: Bulatlat (Quezon City) Vol. V, No. 7, 20-26 March 2005]
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's tenure in office is feeling more
like the fearful days of Martial Law.
Civil libertarians across various sectors denounced the inaction of
Macapagal-Arroyo's regime on the spate of killings and abductions of
human rights leaders and workers.
In a forum held at the Asian Center of the University of the
Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City March 18, five party-list groups
in the House of the Representatives, church-based groups, human rights
groups and lawyers, and journalists gathered and discussed the violent
attacks that the military and the police have reportedly been waging
against the progressive people's movement.
Present were Bayan Muna party-list Reps. Satur Ocampo and Teddy
Casiño, AnakPawis party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran and Rafael Mariano,
Gabriela Women's Party party-list Rep. Liza Maza, and Buhay party-list
Rep. Christian Señeres. The APEC (Association of Philippine Electric
Cooperatives) party-list was also represented.
Ocampo denounced the government's lack of political will in continuing
peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines
(NDFP), especially in the light of the assassination attempt against
UN judge Attorney Romeo Capulong last March 14 at his house in Nueva
Ecija.
He criticized the composition of the present negotiating panel of the
government, which he labeled as "antagonistic." He also pointed out
the growing role of the Bush regime in the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP).
In a privilege speech delivered last March 8 before the 13th Congress,
Ocampo said "the killings, abductions, and disappearances cannot be
but acts of terrorism."
"The probability, if not the certainty, that these are perpetrated by
agents of the State, through its military or paramilitary operatives,
makes the situation a larger cause for public concern and for urgent
actions to put an end to these atrocities," said Ocampo.
"What we see here, Mr. Speaker, is an overly militarist mindset that
punishes with impunity any and all groups critical of the
Establishment," said Casiño in a privilege speech delivered last March 14.
Casiño said 13 Bayan Muna leaders and supporters have been felled by
the bullet in Central and Northern Luzon just this year. Five were
abducted and remain missing, he added.
"At the rate things are going, Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, our party
will have been wiped out by the next elections," said Casiño.
Silence, inaction
Meanwhile, BAYAN secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. denounced "the
silence and the inaction of the Arroyo administration."
Human rights group Karapatan or Alliance for the Advancement of
People's Rights recorded 110 abductions last year. From January to
March 15 alone this year, the group recorded a hundred cases of human
rights violations, affecting 23,252 victims in 91 communities.
Attacks on press freedom are also on the rise with the death of 13
journalists last year. National Union of Journalists of the
Philippines (NUJP) president Inday Espina-Varona said the morbid
statistic could get higher this year since there have been two deaths
recorded for the first quarter of this year.
Espina-Varona criticized the Anti-Terrorism Bills (ATB) pending in the
13th Congress, which she said sought "to protect us from the scourge
of terrorism by stripping us of our constitutional rights."
In a statement, Rep. Hussin Amin of Sulu's first district noted that
"those who are killed are intentionally selected."
Compared to the government's declared war against the Abu Sayyaf Group
(ASG) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) breakaway group
currently holding out in Sulu, there was an "undeclared war" against
progressive party-list groups.
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and other
church-based groups like the Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF) and the
Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) also issued statements denouncing
the attacks on civil liberties.
An IFI priest, Fr. William Tadena, was killed last March 13 after
saying Mass in Brgy. Guevarra in Lapaz, Tarlac. According to the EBF,
Fr. Tadena was the chairperson of social concern and human rights in
the IFI diocese in Tarlac, a member of Karapatan-Tarlac and the
Promotion of Church People's Response-Tarlac.
A month before, on Feb. 18, IFI priest Fr. Allan Caparro and his wife,
Aileen, were ambushed by two motorcycle riding assassins. They
survived the ambush.
The groups vehemently denounced these attacks on the two priests.
"That they are advocates of human rights, peace and justice, and
defenders of the oppressed are known to all of those whole lives were
touched by the witness and ministry of these two priests," said the
NCCP in a statement.
"These cannot be the handiwork of petty thieves or highway robbers. It
was planned by those who stand to gain in the event that the two
priests are silenced," the NCCP statement concluded.
Could get worse
The IFI, in its statement, said the current situation could "still get
worse."
"There is reason to believe that what befell to our two priests, as
well as the countless unresolved murders on mass leaders and the
blatant attacks on the democratic rights and civil liberties of our
people, is not without the knowledge of the government of President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Armed Forces of the Philippines," the
IFI statement read.
The EBF statement, meanwhile, reminded the Macapagal-Arroyo regime
"that militarism and militarization are ways that will further
alienate the government from the suffering people."
The recent siege at the Metro Manila District Jail at Camp Bagong Diwa
in Bicutan, Taguig City, also highlighted the plight of Muslims in the
anti-terrorism drive of the government.
Yusuf Ledesma, a Muslim convert, spoke of police raids of mosques in
the metropolis.
The country seemed to be a "paradise for the evildoers," Ledesma said,
as he recounted of Muslim converts who were arrested for being alleged
Abu Sayyaf members and sympathizers.
Some of them were in hiding, Ledesma said.
A red candle lighting will be held on March 23 at the foot of the
Chino Roces Bridge, formerly Mendiola Bridge, site of mass
demonstrations. The convenors of the forum also plan to publish a
print ad denouncing the government for their inaction on the spate of
attacks against civil liberties, hold a national indignation rally on
April 7, and dialogues with concerned government agencies. Bulatlat
http://www.bulatlat.net/news/5-7/5-7-war.html
.....................................................................
Aftermath of `Bicutan massacre'
Police Accused of Torture
Darwisa Masud waited anxiously with her four-year old son to check on
her husband, Sahid Masud, a suspected Abu Sayyaf detained at Camp
Bagong Diwa in Bicutan which the police assaulted March 15 to stop an
alleged jail break attempt. When she finally saw him, she and her son
could only cry while hugging him. His left eye was swollen from the
punches inflicted on his face and his hands were blistered from hot
water poured on them by the police.
BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
[From: Bulatlat (Quezon City) Vol. V, No. 7, 20-26 March 2005]
Police on the watch during the assault on Camp Bagong Diwa, March 15
Photo by Aubrey Makilan
Relatives of slain suspected Abu Sayyaf members and wounded detainees,
and non-government organizations have called for an independent
investigation of the alleged "massacre" at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan.
In a press conference on March 19, Cosain Naga Jr., secretary general
of Suara Bangsamoro Partylist, said that the medical mission conducted
on March 18 by their group and human rights group Karapatan for the
wounded inmates in Camp Bagong Diwa "led to our having substantial
proof that the assault team wielded excessive use of violence against
the detainees."
Naga relayed that the detainees saw what was almost like a "massacre"
against all of them. He added that according to the detainees, Special
Action Force (SAF) operatives indiscriminately fired at inmates even
when they were already faced down to the ground, replying
"pare-parehas kayong mga Muslim!" (All of you Muslims are just the
same!). A Japanese reporter who covered the incident, on the other
hand, commented "it was a genocide."
In a separate press conference in Sulu Hotel March 19, however, new
Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Arturo Lomibao
denied there had been overkill or excessive use of force by the
assault team. He added that the assault was a consensus of the Crisis
Management Team, headed by Department of Interior and Local Government
(DILG) Secretary Angelo Reyes, formed to solve the incident. On the
other hand, Naga heard Reyes in the crisis center shouting, "Sige,
banatan n'yo na yan!" (Go, hit them!).
Lomibao also said that the assault team only inflicted minimal
casualty from a target of more than 50 persons to the actual 27 deaths
among the detainees – 23 Muslims and four Christians.
Naga, however, argued that with more than 400 inmates detained at the
CBD, "only 129 were suspected Abu Sayyaf elements, 73 of whom were
illegally arrested and could be military fall guys following the
military crackdown in Basilan last 2001 as ordered by President Gloria
Arroyo."
Jigs Clamor, spokesperson of human rights group Karapatan (Alliance
for the Advancement of People's Rights), said the demands of the
alleged ASG members – speedy trial, investigation of human rights
violations, assurance that they will not bodily harmed, media coverage
and food – were reasonable. He also questioned the alleged deliberate
attempt of the government to close down the negotiation.
Pura Calleja, counsel of most of the suspected ASG detainees, earlier
confirmed that there had been no negotiation after the supposed 5 p.m.
press conference for the jail breakers until the assault at 9:15 a.m.
of March 15.
Retaliation
Muslim leaders have denied planning any kind of retaliation on their
side. As Imam (priest) Amil Andan said, their religion Islam means
peace. But the police, quoting as source alleged Abu Sayyaf member
"Boy Negro," said the ASG is planning to seek revenge for their dead
comrades.
Naga said the detainees told him that after the assault, "they
received many blows, kicks and harsh remarks from SAF (Special Action
Forces) while parading them almost naked, wearing only briefs, and
leaving them under the scorching heat of the sun for almost two hours."
With the condition of the remaining detainees at CBD now, Clamor said
that the only revenge being waged is on the part of the police.
The isolation, physical assault, and other similar acts, Clamor told
Bulatlat, is a violation of the detainees' rights as arrested and
detained persons, based on Republic Act 7438.
Physical assault
Darwisa Masud waited anxiously with her four-year old son to check on
her husband, Sahid Masud, a suspected Abu Sayyaf detained at CBD. When
she finally saw him, she and her son could only cry while hugging him.
Sahid's hands had blisters because of the hot water allegedly poured
on them by the police, while his left eye was swollen from receiving
face blows.
Darwisa told Bulatlat that her husband was one of the six alleged
suspected jailbreak plotters who shot the BJMP guards of the SICA
Bldg. A trustee detainee reportedly identified her husband.
Darwina said that another detainee's wife warned her to take "extra
care." Police elements have reportedly been asking for her
whereabouts. But instead of fearing for their lives, Darwina said,
"mabuti pa ngang patayin na nila kaming mag-anak para matapos na ang
paghihirap naming" (It is better if kill our family now so our
suffering will end).
Aside from Sahid, other detainees are allegedly being held in
bartolina or isolation: Rajmar Jul, Munid Aza, Omar Abubakar, Alzia
Jandul, and Ismael Bas. This was reported by Karapatan's Aya Reyes,
who was with the medical mission on March 18 with the Commission on
Human Rights (CHR) doctors and other health and human rights workers.
Reyes said that the detainees bore bruises on their bodies. She said
Jul himself confirmed the torture they suffered during interrogation.
She said Jul even demonstrated how a police officer would move his
hand across his neck which signifies death if the detainees would not
admit belonging to the plotters. Reyes described Jul as having wounds
on his chin and bruises on the face from being hit with armalite rifle.
Meanwhile, the Moro-Christian People's Alliance (MCPA) said there are
more than a hundred wounded inmates needing medical attention.
One of them is Bimbas Abubakar who was hit in the head with a bullet
that caused hematoma (rapid blood clotting in the brain). He also has
bruises and an almost five-centimeter cut on his foot.
Clamor also said that the detainees were fed only lunchtime of March
16. At present, he said, about 30-35 detainees are sharing a
two-by-three square meter cell. Bulatlat
http://www.bulatlat.net/news/5-7/5-7-bicutan.html
...................................................................
PRESS RELEASE
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines
Palparan-style killings now nationwide -- Ka Roger
March 18, 2005
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today accused the
military of perpetrating the successive extrajudicial executions of
activists and leaders of progressive organizations, calling them
"Palparan-style killings".
CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said the killings were
reminiscent of the style of Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, whose stint a
few years ago as chief of the Philippine Army's 204th Infantry
Battalion in Mindoro was marked by the murders of scores of peasant
organizers and human rights activists in the island.
Rosal deplored the killing the past two days of peasant leaders in
Central Luzon and the Bicol region.
Last night, Ben Concepcion, secretary-general of the peasant group
Aguman da reng Maglalautang Capampangan and coordinator of the
Anakpawis political party was gunned down in Angeles City.
The previous day, Anakpawis party organizer Joel Reyes was shot in
Jose Panganiban town in Quezon by soldiers belonging to the Philippine
Army 902nd IBde and 31st IB.
Several other leaders and activists have been killed by the military
and paramilitary groups in previous weeks. In Tarlac, Fr. William
Tadena and Councilor Abelardo Ladera, both supportes of the Hacienda
Luisita strike, and tagged by the military as NPA members, were killed
within days of each other.
In Baguio, Bayan official Romeo Sanchez was killed on March 10. Three
days later, Atty. Felidito Dacut, Bayan Muna coordinator for Eastern
Visayas was killed in Tacloban City.
Reference:
Anne Buenaventura
Media Officer
http://www.philippinerevolution.org/cgi-bin/statements/releases.pl?date=0503
18;refer=kr;language=eng
......................................................................
Sympathy on the death of Atty. Dacut and condemnation of Arroyo's
reign of terror
Fr. Santiago "Sanny" Salas
Spokesperson in Eastern Visayas
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
March 19, 2005
The NDF-Eastern Visayas condoles with the bereaved family, colleagues
and friends of human rights lawyer and Bayan Muna regional chairperson
Atty. Felidito Dacut. We strongly condemn the brutal murder of Atty.
Dacut last March 14 in Tacloban City. The people mourn the loss of a
courageous lawyer and patriot. Atty. Dacut dedicated his life and
profession toward helping the peasants, workers, urban poor and others
of the poverty-stricken and downtrodden. As a patriot and defender of
the people's rights, his own colleagues and the masses esteemed and
wished him well. We can thus say that the enemy that could hate and
kill Atty. Dacut could only be the enemy of the people, and that is
the reactionary state.
This new level of violence against legal activists in Eastern Visayas
signifies the Arroyo regime's escalating fascism and state terrorism.
In particular, the vicious assaults on progressive activists in the
region are the cowardly, degenerate and desperate actions of the
fascist butcher Gen. Jovito Palparan and 8th Infantry Division. Last
Feb. 18, an attempt was made in Abuyog, Leyte on the lives of a priest
of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, Fr. Allan Caparro, and his
wife. Fr. Caparro is a well-known anti-mining activist in Samar and
the vice chair of the Promotion of Church People's Response-Eastern
Visayas. This March 6, the offices of progressive groups Bayan Muna
and Katungod in Catarman, Northern Samar were openly harassed and
barricaded by an armored personnel carrier and troops of the 63rd IB.
The Arroyo regime has no scruples in attacking the legal democratic
movement, as well as civilians in the countryside perceived as
supporting the New People's Army. It is in vain that the regime hopes
in this reign of terror to silence the people's protests and
ultimately weaken the revolutionary movement. In fact, the
revolutionary movement will become even stronger because of the
regime's extreme cruelty and injustice to the people. The killings of
activists and other atrocities are only hastening the process of
awakening the people to the repressiveness of the reactionary state
and the necessity for waging armed struggle to overthrow it. Arroyo
and the "war on terror" today will show the way to thousands of
recruits into the New People's Army, in the same way that Marcos and
martial law did in the past. It becomes even clearer in the eyes of
the people that the NPA is the real army and friend of the people, and
that intensifying guerrilla offensives serve to punish the mercenary
and hated Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Let us turn our grief and outrage over Atty. Dacut's death into the
courage and strength to advance the nationalist and democratic
movement of the people. The desire for justice and redress for Atty.
Dacut and the martyrs of the people invigorates the anti-fascist mass
movement in exposing and opposing the fascist beast. In fighting
repression, the people are also encouraged to fight against worsening
hardships under the Arroyo regime through the antifeudal and
anti-imperialist mass movements. It is through the democratic
struggles of the people, whom he stood for and defended so well, that
justice for Atty. Dacut and for all can be realized. While the people
can utilize various forms of peaceful struggle, it is their
revolutionary armed struggle that will make sure of the overthrow of
the reactionary state that causes so much suffering, and usher in
justice, freedom, democracy, and lasting peace. #
http://www.philippinerevolution.org/cgi-bin/statements/statements.pl?author=
sss;date=050319;language=eng
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources
often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
--------------------------
Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL
PROTECTED]
--------------------------
Brooks Isoldi, editor
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.intellnet.org
Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has
not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of
The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT
YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of
intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods,
techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other
intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use
this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,'
you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
