Criminal Justice System in The Phil
Criminal Justice System in The Phil
special report
Sadly, article 2 is much neglected. One reason for this is that in the ‘developed world’
the existence of basically functioning judicial systems is taken for granted. Persons from
those countries may be unable to grasp what it means to live in a society where ‘institutions
of justice’ are in fact instruments to deny justice. And as these persons guide the global
human rights movement, vital problems do not receive necessary attention. For people in
many countries, international human rights discourse then loses relevance.
Other difficulties also arise with article 2. One is the fear to meddle in the ‘internal
affairs’ of sovereign countries. Governments are creating more and more many obstacles for
those trying to go deep down to learn about the roots of problems. Thus, inadequate
knowledge of actual situations may follow. A further and quite recent disturbance is the
portrayal of national human rights institutions and their equivalents as surrogate agencies
for dealing with article 2 related issues. Some state parties may agree to new national
human rights institutions taking on this role because they know that by doing so they
may avoid criticisms of a more fundamental nature.
Thus after many years of work, the Asian Legal Resource Centre began publishing
article 2 to draw attention to this vital provision in international law, and to raise awareness
of the need to implement human rights standards and provide effective remedies at the
local level in Asia.
Relevant submissions by interested persons and organizations are welcome.
Contents
SPECIAL REPORT: THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
OF THE PHILIPPINES IS ROTTEN
Foreword: The rotten criminal justice system of
the Philippines must be cleaned out 2
Basil Fernando, Executive Director, Asian Human Rights
Commission & Asian Legal Resource Centre, Hong Kong
APPENDICES
Appendix I: Statement of UN Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial killings after visit to the Philippines 128
T
o the ordinary person in the Philippines, neither the police
nor the prosecution and courts inspire any confidence.
While the country's elite is good at the use of sophisticated
and elegant rhetoric on justice and democracy—sometimes
couched in the jargon of the right, sometimes of the left—the
ordinary person knows that it is far removed from reality. The
fine words of the constitution, the bill of rights and various laws
ostensibly introduced to protect the people are completely divorced
from the crass reality of the absolutely inefficient, corrupt and
careless policing, prosecuting and adjudicating systems.
Within the last couple of years, the Asian Legal Resource
Centre and Asian Human Rights Commission have gathered
hundreds of stories that speak to this gap between fine words
and reality. Over a hundred of them are contained in this report,
“The criminal justice system of the Philippines is rotten”
(article 2, vol. 6, no. 1, February 2006). The stories reveal a pattern
of extreme cruelty and state complicity. Filipinos are being
threatened, tortured, abducted, killed and destroyed with a
brutality that no civilised state would permit. This cruel
behaviour is permitted, and encouraged, because the country’s
institutions for criminal justice are in fact so barbaric that
together they bear no resemblance to any modern system of
justice.
Most in the Filipino elite will find such remarks offensive.
They will respond that their laws are modern: many of them
adapted from those of the United States and other longer-
established jurisdictions; the constitution has assimilated
modern international human rights jurisprudence. They will point
out that the Philippines has ratified more international laws on
human rights than other countries in Asia, and its government
is outspoken on human rights in regional countries, such as
T
his special report, “The criminal justice system of the
Philippines is rotten” (article 2, vol. 6, no. 1, February
2007), is the first published by the Asian Legal Resource
Centre (ALRC) on the situation of criminal justice and wanton
killings, disappearances, assault, arbitrary detention and torture
by state officers or their agents in the Philippines.
The title of the report is important. Like other parts of Asia,
the problems in Philippines are at their most basic problems of
criminal justice and the institutions that should function to
implement laws: the police, prosecutors and courts. By
emphasising the rottenness of the criminal justice system, the
authors stress that gross abuses of human rights are occurring
daily in the Philippines primarily as a consequence of this
condition. The changing of political leadership, invariably the
motivating cry for street demonstrators, is meaningless without
attempts to stop the deep institutional rot eating through the
country’s law-enforcement agencies, courts and bureaucracy.
In 2006, the Philippines was elected to two key United Nations
bodies: the Human Rights Council and the Economic and Social
Council. Its election was a triumph of diplomacy over reality. As
this report amply shows, life for vast numbers of ordinary Filipinos
is made a misery by the workings of state agencies. The fact
that the country has failed to implement key recommendations
that the UN Human Rights Committee made in December 2003,
in accordance with its obligations under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, also speaks to the low
value that the government places on its commitments under
international law, despite appearances to the contrary.
This report contains details of 110 specific cases, involving
227 victims, including 81 incidents of killing or attempted killing
documented by the sister organisation of the ALRC, the Asian
Human Rights Commission since 2004, 62 of them since the
start of 2006 alone. The remaining 39 cases relate to incidents
of torture, disappearance, abduction, illegal arrest and
intimidation.
4 article 2 February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1
The ALRC is acutely aware that these represent only a small
fraction of the total number of such incidents in the Philippines
in recent years. That these incidents are going on constantly is
also publicly known in the Philippines, and increasingly,
internationally. From the time the words in this introduction
are written to the time that this report is published, many more
will have fallen victims of gunmen’s bullets, police or military
“ life for vast
numbers of
ordinary
assault, or have received messages on telephones and in letters Filipinos is
warning them not to continue in whatever simple things they
may be doing for the improvement of their own lives and those of made a misery
their fellow humans. By default they will also have fallen victim
to the failures and neglect of investigators, prosecutors, judges by the workings
and others duty-bound to protect their rights and uphold the notion
of justice, but unwilling or unable to do so.
Notwithstanding, taken together one hundred such cases
speak clearly to the patterns of killings by “unidentified gunmen”
of state agencies
”
on motorcycles or abductions by others in vans, and subsequent
limited and failed investigations, non-protection of terrified
witnesses and inaction or bias by the Department of Justice and
its public prosecutors, labelling of victims as “enemies” of the
state, and belated and flawed interventions by the courts. None
of the cases in this report has, to the knowledge of the ALRC,
been satisfactorily resolved. Even those where very strong
evidence of military involvement exists, no perpetrators in state
agencies are known to have been prosecuted.
The report discusses these individual cases with reference
in particular to the country’s defective policing, inept prosecution
and failed witness protection. It also discusses them with reference
to the role of the military, and in particular, the labelling of
persons extrajudicially killed as “enemies” or equivalent, in order
to create a category of citizens for whom the ordinary laws no
longer need apply and who may be killed without fear of
consequences or the prospect of effective investigation. The
manner in which this is now being done threatens the entire
criminal justice system, and more broadly, the very fabric of
government and democracy of the country.
Six suggestions are given for ways to stop the rot, including
with reference to the need for an urgent comprehensive review
of the Philippines’ criminal justice system; the rationalising of
its deficient witness protection programme and law; the
strengthening of agencies for the receipt, investigation and
prosecution of complaints against police and military officials;
the use of labelling; action on findings into extrajudicial killings;
and the enactment of domestic laws on torture, enforced
disappearance and other fundamental rights in accordance with
international law.
Neither the recommendations nor the other contents of the
report are in themselves answers to the problems afflicting the
criminal justice system of the Philippines. Rather, they are
intended as starting points for new ideas and discussion. Where
grave problems and abuses are widely known but remain
“ where grave
problems are
widely known
a small attempt, after some years of work, to provoke new
attempts at grasping, thinking and discussing.
In 2006 the Asian Human Rights Commission launched an
online petition against the ongoing extrajudicial killings in the
but remain Philippines, at www.pinoyhr.net, addressed to the justice
secretary and other government officials. The text of the petition
unaddressed, is among other appendices to this report: open letters to the
something is authorities in the Philippines, the country’s witness protection
law, and some recommendations of the UN Human Rights
very wrong....
” Committee to the Philippines in 2003. So far over 6000 persons
have signed the petition. We urge all readers to join them.
One of the striking characteristics about the response to the
petition has been the huge number of outraged, angry, thoughtful
and poignant comments added by signatories. In recognition of
these voices, we are reproducing just a few of them in this report.
To read all, visit the petition website and click on “signatures”.
Acknowledgements
This report was authored by staff and colleagues of the ALRC
who for security reasons must remain anonymous. It was edited
and prepared by Nick Cheesman and Lynn Yu.
The authors wish to acknowledge the following groups for the
work that they have done for the advancement on human rights
in the Philippines:
Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights)
Task Force Detainees of the Philippines
Workers’ Assistance Center, Inc.
Partnership for Agrarian Reform & Rural Development Services
Kilusan Para sa Pambansang Demokrasya
Center for Trade Union and Human Rights
Promotion of Church Peoples’ Response
Cordillera Human Rights Alliance
The authors especially acknowledge the determination of the
Filipino people to overcome the obstacles placed before them by
their country’s rotten criminal justice system and corrupted
institutions. It is their willingness to do this that makes this
publication, and others like it, both possible and meaningful.
As “The criminal justice system of the Philippines is rotten” was going to print,
the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Professor Philip Alston,
visited the Philippines and released a summary of his observations. Shortly
thereafter the government made public the findings of the Melo Commission
into extrajudicial killings. The Special Rapporteur’s comments and extracts
from the commission report have been added to the appendices and referenced
in the body of this document.
W
hy do victims and witnesses do not come forward to
file charges or support cases in court after shootings,
assaults and other serious crimes in the Philippines
today? Their unwillingness to lodge complaints, support
prosecutions or otherwise act to obtain justice speaks to the total
lack of confidence in the country’s rotten criminal justice system.
Impunity is written large across the face of criminal justice
in the Philippines: perpetrators of killings, torture, abductions
and other gross abuses have easy assurances that they will get
away with whatever they have done. And where these persons
are themselves a part of the police, military or armed groups
working on their behalf, impunity is all but guaranteed. Little
wonder that attacks are carried out in broad daylight and in public
places—a crowded market, the front of the victim’s home, during
a church service—by men who don’t even bother to conceal their
faces or identities. They know full well that they will never be
arrested; the victim’s family may even be too terrified to admit
seeing the perpetrators’ faces. Where they do, some innocent
persons can easily be found to take the place of the actual
offenders. Either way, the lack of witnesses and other evidence
together with disinterested and primitive investigating mean
that few cases ever reach full trial in the courts.
PHOTO: REUTERS/ STR News A police crime scene investigator walks by the body of a slain congressman in Manila
“
mocked
criminal
investigation is
by
Police invariably fail to involve the family of a victim in their
inquiries, often to the detriment of a case. After concluding their
investigation into the murder of husband and wife George and
Maricel Vigo (story 34), they filed charges against unidentified
members of an illegal armed group. Relatives of the victims
establishment of accused the police of working haphazardly and failing to interview
key witnesses, who had gone into hiding. Requests for new
ineffectual & investigations were ignored as the case was “closed” by virtue of
biased special it being in the court, despite the fact that the actual identities of
the gunman and his accomplice had not been established.
‘task force’ The failure of police to work with victims’ families is most
”
units.... glaring in cases of enforced disappearance. In practice the police
do little or nothing to assist persons searching for abducted and
missing relatives. Only where a body is recovered do investigators
go through the routine of making inquiries and completing
paperwork for the purpose of identifying the deceased, if not the
killers. Complaints of disappearances go no further than the daily
logbook, again particularly if the police are themselves the
accused, such as when they detained five persons on 28 April
2006 (story 89). Relatives of the five who went from one police
station or army camp to the next were repeatedly told that they
were not in custody there. Days later it was revealed that they
had been in police custody, and allegedly tortured, all along.
Criminal investigation in the Philippines is also mocked by
way of the establishment of ineffectual and biased special “task
force” units for specific crimes. In August 2006 the president of
the Philippines reportedly instructed the police task force
established to investigate cases of alleged extrajudicial killings
(Usig) to resolve at least ten within the following ten weeks. This
was never done. Had it been, it would still take 14 years to resolve
all the cases of killings known at the time of the instruction.
Evidently, the statement was intended as little more than a
publicity stunt, as indeed the task force to which it was directed
appears to be. Working on a monthly budget of around 300,000
Philippine Pesos (USD 6000) with limited personnel and
resources, the task force has at no point been capable of
investigating the hundreds of alleged killings and attempted
killings had it the inclination to do so, which successive
statements by its personnel have made clear it does not. The
Melo Commission report made public in February 2007 notes
that out of some 111 cases of killings acknowledged by the
Philippine police, most of which are under the responsibility of
Task Force Usig, only 37 have been forwarded to the prosecutor
(see appendix II).
“ officials
acknowledge
had threats on their lives beforehand; some already having
survived earlier attacks. Those who seek protection are frustrated
by the unresponsiveness of state agencies that supposedly have
obligations to assist in such instances. Many end up dead. Human
the importance rights lawyer Norman Bocar was killed in Eastern Visayas on 1
of protecting September 2005 (story 69), after seeking protection from the local
police because of threats on his life. The police did nothing to
witnesses but assist; nor were they ever held responsible for their inaction.
fail to do Section 3 of the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act
(RA 6981) provides that any person who has “witnessed or has
anything knowledge or information on the commission of a crime” can be
admitted for witness protection provided that,
”
about it.... (c) He or any member of his family [has been] subjected to threats to his
life or bodily injury or there is a likelihood that he will be killed, forced,
intimidated, harassed or corrupted to prevent him from testifying, or to
testify falsely, or evasively, because or on account of his testimony.
To the extent that a system of police protection exists under
this provision, it works for the rich and powerful with police
contacts needing security against persons other than the police
themselves. Policemen stationed on protection duty expect to be
fed and perhaps housed or transported by the person they are
protecting: easy enough for the wealthy, but often impossible for
ordinary victims. Their commanders need to be convinced that
the threats against the person are real: easy enough for
influential persons, but again often impossible for ordinary
victims. And police are no protection against other police, as the
family of Hernan Baria knows (story 19). They have been living
in fear of both the armed men working for a local landowner and
“ they want us to
solve the cases
to at-risk witnesses and get them admitted to witness protection
arranged by the department. They call for witnesses to come
forward but fail to guarantee protection and then blame them for
but did not failed cases.
cooperate; The failure of the witness protection programme must be
attributed squarely to the rotten condition of its implementing
they are agency, the Department of Justice. Public prosecutors, who are
its officers, have also failed in their duty to refer witnesses for
inclusion in the protection programme. Even in the most serious
hypocrites....
”
—Justice Secretary
cases of extrajudicial killing, torture and disappearance, they
are not known to have made recommendations and applications
for protection. This failure is all the more glaring since October
2006, when Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez ordered public
Raul Gonzalez
prosecutors and witness protection agents “to proactively search,
secure and protect material witnesses” in a bombing incident in
Mindanao. While the department went out of its way to see the
bombing witnesses brought into the programme, it has made no
such effort for the witnesses to the hundreds of extrajudicial
killings and other serious crimes in recent times.
The justice secretary is directly responsible for the witness
protection programme, as recommendations on protection must
obtain his endorsement, and as the programme operates under
his oversight. Yet instead of ensuring that his department works
effectively for all witnesses in need of protection, Justice
Secretary Gonzalez has on several occasions blamed witnesses
and families of the dead for not cooperating. On 3 August 2006
Gonzalez was quoted by an online newsgroup People’s Journal as
saying that the failure to prosecute cases was the fault of victims’
relatives, adding that, “They want us to solve the cases. But they
did not cooperate. They are hypocrites.” Needless to say, the
making of such remarks by the senior bureaucrat responsible
both for witness protection and prosecutions does little to raise
confidence in his rotten department among the persons whom
he has admonished. Rather, he has succeeded only in further
isolating them from the offices of the state.
Attempts by the Asian Human Rights Commission and others
to have Secretary Gonzalez acknowledge his department’s
responsibility in these cases have been unsuccessful. He and
his department have in reply offered only generic assurances
that they have “given safe havens to scores of witnesses who
fears reprisals”, without any evidence of the same or explanations
as to why persons such as Norman Bocar and Dario Oresca, or
the families of Joel Reyes, Ernesto Bang and Porferio Maglasang
Sr. have never received such services. The fact that extrajudicial
killings and abductions are going on unabated and unaddressed
in the Philippines speaks to the abject failure of the justice
department to offer witness protection as it is mandated, despite
its claims to the contrary.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez presents a high-profile witness under protection PHOTO: REUTERS/ Joe Chan
”
credence to police findings without due considerations of other
factors, such as allegations of torture or irregularities in killing
investigation by the accused, as in the case of the 11 teenagers —UN expert
arrested and tortured in Benguet: despite their insistence that
they were forced to confess under torture to crimes that they did Philip Alston
not commit, and that the evidence against them was fabricated,
the prosecutor persisted with recommending that the case go to
court. The victims’ claims were not taken seriously by the
prosecutor. The court first ruled that the police had arrested the
victims illegally, and stopped short of a judgment on the charges
themselves. The defence then filed a petition for reinvestigation,
which the court approved, and subsequently dismissed the case
for lack of evidence. In the meantime, the lives of the victims
had been put at grave risk while they were kept in jail awaiting
trial. Similarly, when police allegedly attempted to kill Gerardo
Cristobal and then filed frustrated murder and attempted murder
charges against him the same day of the incident the prosecutor
indicted Cristobal in court, knowing full well that the case was
based upon a report prepared and filed by colleagues of the police
he had accused of attacking him. The prosecutor did not inquire
into Cristobal’s claim.
In practice, the burden to disprove fabricated or sloppy police
investigation reports rests upon the accused. Victims of abuse
are treated with cynicism and hostility, as shown by one state
prosecutor in May 2006 who told a newspaper that it is “normal
for accused people to claim [forced confession by] torture”. Even
in cases where allegations of torture are given credence, there
is no law prohibiting and penalising the use of torture in the
“ prosecutors
make little or
no attempt to
sufficient if it “designate an offense by the statute”. Without a
law the prosecutor cannot act on allegations of torture, even in
the rare instance where one may be interested to do so.
Prosecutors make little or no attempt to conceal bias in their
handling of criminal complaints. For instance, eight workers
conceal bias in were arrested and illegally detained in Rosario, Cavite on 28
their handling September 2006 (story 99); while being taken to the police station,
an arresting officer allegedly threatened one of the victims. The
of criminal prosecutor indicted the group for trespassing but reportedly
”
refused to register complaints against the police, saying that
complaints.... the workers filed them just to get even with the arresting officers.
In another case, the decision by a prosecutor to exonerate a
military sergeant and his men for the killing of Talib Japalali
and his wife Carmen in Tagum City (story 81) was reversed by
the Office of the Ombudsman for Military and Other Law
Enforcement Office based on forensic evidence suggesting
grounds upon which to lay charges. Even though the prosecutor
had showed either partiality towards the accused or a lack of
understanding of forensic evidence, he was still appointed to
handle the case in court. Appeals for his replacement by the
victims’ relatives have not yet been acted upon.
Once a prosecutor has brought a case into court it is extremely
difficult to get it withdrawn. One example is the arrest and
subsequent prosecution of Haron Abubakar Buisan in General
Santos City (story 108). The police who arrested him insisted
that he was Ariel Bansalao, a person wanted for robbery and
homicide, and that he had been using various aliases. They
allegedly tortured him into making a confession. However, he
and his relatives have insisted that he is not the same person,
and have produced schools records, village certification, and
testimonies from persons known to him to support their claims.
But the prosecutor proceeded to file a case against him as Ariel
Bansalao. Buisan appealed and obtained a reinvestigation;
however, the reinvestigation only reaffirmed earlier conclusions
that he was not arrested on mistaken identity: there was no
actual reinvestigation. Nor have the victim’s allegations of
torture ever been investigated, or other irregularities been
addressed.
The extent of bias is again best illustrated by the head of the
Department of Justice himself. Secretary Gonzalez has gone out
of his way to defend the government by flatly rejecting legitimate
grievances about the inability of the authorities to stop
extrajudicial killings, referring to them as “black propaganda”.
He has adopted the language of the military and insinuated that
unseen forces have taken advantage of the situation as “one
way to destabilize the government” by way of creating lawlessness
within the country, thereby putting the government into shame
in the international community: as if the government was not
Labelling “enemies”
In April 2005 the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of
the Philippines produced a PowerPoint presentation entitled
“Knowing the Enemy: Are we missing the point?”, which included
a list of organisations and persons—among them human rights
and labour groups, religious organisations, media institutions,
political parties and persons critical of the government—who are
“influenced by communists”. The presentation was distributed
on compact disc and was shown to villagers and otherwise used
in communities where the military was conducting so-called
civilian-military operations.
The “Knowing the Enemy” presentation followed the release
of a book by the former chief of Northern Luzon Command,
Lieutenant General Romeo Dominguez (retired) entitled, The
Trinity of War, in which he also identified specific individuals
and organizations as sympathizers, supporters, if not outright
“
We are encouraging people to fight this problem. If
the people, who have been victimized by insurgents, I have encouraged the
decide to take it upon themselves to get even with the
enemy, that is their individual responsibility. They people to take the
know who were responsible for these killings before
we came in. I have encouraged the people to take the
law into their own hands. law into their
Despite the weight of national and
own hands
international opinion against him, Palparan was
not sanctioned for making such statements,
instead enjoying support from government
officials, including President Gloria Macapagal-
”
—Major General
Arroyo, who had lauded him for his anti-
Jovito Palparan Jr.
insurgency campaign during her State of the
Nation Address in July 2006.
In October Secretary Gonzalez even offered Major General
Palparan a consultancy with his department. When challenged
about the alleged gross abuses of human rights committed by
Palparan and his subordinates, Gonzalez replied that these have
“not yet been proven”. Presumably with his oversight of the
“justice” department they are unlikely to be.
However, military and official denials of responsibility have
become irrelevant since the findings of the presidentially-
appointed Melo Commission—announced at the end of January
2007—that the killings are linked to the armed forces and that
the police and justice department had failed to address them
effectively (see appendix II). On Palparan specifically the
commission noted that:
”
organisations .. .
—AFP Chief, General
Hermogenes Esperon
evidence with which to identify and prosecute the
perpetrators. In Palo, Leyte, eight villagers died—
including a seven-month-pregnant woman—when
soldiers opened fire at a house that they claimed was
used by rebels (story 66). The incident was described
as a legitimate encounter with armed groups, rather
than a massacre.
Police in Palo conducted investigations on the basis of the
military’s account, and filed fabricated charges of illegal
possession of firearms and ammunitions against surviving
victims, who were described in the police report as “captured
enemies”. In November 2006 the court dismissed the case as
“the prosecution failed to establish the ownership or possession
of any of the guns by the accused”; i.e., they had been planted.
Although the victims were exonerated, none of the actual
perpetrators has ever been held to account. Notwithstanding,
multiple murder charges were lodged against the soldiers on 21
November 2006, one year after the incident. The police involved
in producing false investigation reports have not been held
accountable.
The investigation function is thus completely perverted,
directed towards justifying and explaining away killings rather
than punishing and stopping them. And under any
circumstances, if indeed the police and justice department had
proof that the killings have been perpetrated by rebels, still they
“ the killings
are—contrary to
the conclusion
Philippines during May 2006, and had been actively working with
local groups that have been labelled as “enemies of the state”.
Others have been taken away for no more than non-
cooperation. Brothers Reynaldo and Raymond Manalo were
arrested and allegedly forcibly disappeared by armed men
of the Melo identifying themselves as soldiers who entered their house in
Commission— February 2006, after they had refused to cooperate with troops
trying to locate their neighbour and for not participating in a
certainly meeting called by the military on their anti-insurgency campaign
(story 95).
attributable Whereas the highest levels of government should be issuing
explicit orders to prohibit the use of public labelling by soldiers
to the military and law-enforcement officers, the practice is becoming
increasingly widespread, and is now virtually a de facto policy.
organisation National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales has pushed for
official labelling of party list political organisations with supposed
and the state links to the communist movement in the forthcoming May 2007
”
itself .... elections. Gonzales has not named specific parties himself, but
five alone were listed in the army’s “Knowing the Enemy”
presentation, and unsurprisingly the proposal is known to be
popular among the military. The effect of such tagging of
registered political parties would be just short of declaring them
illegal, and would imply that any persons voting for them are
also “influenced by communists”. And in case anybody is as yet
in any doubt about the implications of that tag, Major Michael
Samson, the military Civil Relations Service group commander,
said in an interview of 18 January 2007 that, “In the Armed
Forces’ continued campaign against communism, those that
were either supportive or sympathetic to the communist
movement were considered as enemies of the state.”
The wider consequences on the Philippines’ electoral system
and democracy would be profound and far-reaching. Tagging not
only exposes individual political organisations and persons to
violence and persecution, but undermines the entire exercise
of government and challenges the rights of all citizens to
participate in legitimate political activities.
The persistent official tolerance of public labelling of persons
and organisations as “communist fronts” by military and other
security officers speaks to the complicity of the government in
the unremitting killings and violence throughout the Philippines.
For this reason the killings are—contrary to the conclusion of
the Melo Commission—certainly attributable to the military
organisation and the state itself. Official tolerance excuses
policing and prosecuting agencies from their abject failure to
successfully identify and prosecute perpetrators. It is
contradictory to accept, as the commission has done, that there
exists a pattern of killings that can be linked to the military
while denying that this a systemic problem that goes to the heart
of the rot in the Philippine criminal justice system.
24 article 2 February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
Concerted attack on human rights groups must be strongly resisted
AS-286-2006, November 17, 2006
In what appears to be a concerted attack on the entire human rights movement in
the Philippines, army, civilian and police officials have all made scathing statements
describing the work of rights groups there as “propaganda”.
On November 15, a group of retired and active senior army officers in the Philippines
declared that Amnesty International members should be barred from the country for
accusing the military of being behind extrajudicial killings. The influential
Association of Generals and Flag Officers said in a resolution that the human rights
group had documented incidents based upon the testimonies of militants, and that
its allegations were biased. The declaration against Amnesty has reportedly been
endorsed by the armed forces.
Meanwhile, in another report, a senior official accused rights groups of spreading
“propaganda” about the killings for political purposes. The aggressive defence of the
government by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye followed an unprecedented appeal by
the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in the Philippines, warning that the ongoing
violent attacks could affect investment. The press secretary also specifically named
local group Karapatan as being responsible for spreading untruths, and said that his
government would “sit down with foreign investors to give the facts”.
In a further report, Philippine National Police (PNP) Deputy Director General Avelino
Razon Jr. also claimed that Karapatan had greatly inflated the number of killings,
and incredibly, compared the work of the group to that of Nazi Germany: “The group
is adhering to the Nazi propaganda lines of consistent lies, distortion of objective
facts, continuous lies and half-truths made popular by Hitler’s propagandist Goebbels
during World War II.” Ironically, the deputy director general is the head of Task
Force Usig, the main unit inside the police force investigating the killings...
The attacks are clearly aimed at intimidating all human rights groups working in
the Philippines. In fact, they constitute a threat to the entire human rights
movement. In targeting Amnesty, a large and internationally-renowned group, the
military generals have made clear that anyone else could be next, if they too attempt
to document and report on the incidence of killings and other gross abuses.
Ultimately, these are much more than simple reactions to the latest reports of
domestic and international rights bodies. They are manifestations of an extreme,
deep-rooted bias against human rights defenders. This resistance to human rights
standards, and bias against persons who work to achieve them, is also manifest in
the persistent denial about the extent and nature of the killings that the government
is being called upon to address...
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) calls upon the government of the
Philippines to unequivocally denounce the resolution passed by the Association of
Generals and Flag Officers against Amnesty International, require the police to
justify its outrageous statement comparing a local rights group to the Nazi regime,
and publicly retract the remarks of its press officer...
The struggle for the victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines is no less
than the struggle for the survival of democracy and some notion of the rule of law
there...
“the superior
officer is
principle of command responsibility, there is as yet no clear
indication of how the government intends to deal with senior
officers found to be complicit in grave human rights violations.
The doctrine of command responsibility in the Armed Forces
responsible of the Philippines is stipulated in its Circular No. 28, Series of
1956, which holds that for military commander to have criminal
for crimes and civil liability in abuses committed by his subordinates, three
elements must be proven: that those committing the atrocities
committed were under his command; that the commander knew or should
have known that the subordinates were engaging in
by his impermissible conduct; and, that the commander failed to prevent
or punish those responsible.
Conclusion
When the Philippines became a party to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1987 it signified the
birth of a new era for the protection and promotion of human
rights in the country. But the significance of this and other steps
to uphold human rights must be measured in terms of
implementation. Article 2 of the Covenant stipulates that where
persons’ rights are violated, they must be afforded remedies. This
means investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators, and
compensating and rehabilitating victims. In his annual 2005
report to the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Special
Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings spelt out what this means
where a pattern of killings occurs:
In most situations, the isolated killing of individuals will constitute a
simple crime and not give rise to any governmental responsibility. But
once a pattern becomes clear in which the response of the Government is
clearly inadequate, its responsibility under international human rights
law becomes applicable. Through its inaction the Government confers a
degree of impunity upon the killers.
The Philippines is now faced with a very serious threat to its
fragile democracy and institutions for the rule of law. So far the
government response has been characterised by inaction and a
lack of proper direction over the police, justice department and
army, which acting in interests other than those of the public
have invariably made the situation worse. The government must
now counteract these steps in the wrong direction and
demonstrate that it has the will and is willing to make the
reforms necessary to dig the rot out of its criminal justice system
and erase the name of impunity from its face.
“ it pains me to hear and know that people don’t value life anymore and
justice is trampled upon in our dear country the Philippines—please stop all
the irrational killings in our country
29
SOURCE: Philppine government website (www.gov.ph)
Glossary
AHRC Asian Human Rights Commission
Barangay Village
Cafgu Citizen’s Armed Forces Geographical Unit (militia)
IB Infantry Battalion (Philippine Army)
ID Infantry Division (Philippine Army)
IFI Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church)
Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
NBI National Bureau of Investigation (Department of Justice)
NolCom Northern Luzon Command (Philippine Army)
NPA New People’s Army (insurgent group)
PPMG Provincial Police Mobile Group
PNP Philippine National Police
PO Police Officer
RMG Regional Mobile Group (PNP)
SPO Senior Police Officer
UA Urgent Appeal
UP Urgent Update
13
Andrew Iñoza: Labour union leader murdered in street
VICTIMS: Andrew Iñoza (48) was shot dead by four gunmen at around
1. Andrew Iñoza (killed) 7:30am on 21 November 2006, while riding his motorcycle along
2. Ramon Laude (wounded) Cataquiz 2 Subdivision, Barangay Poblacion, San Pedro in Laguna.
INCIDENT: Killing
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS: The gunmen fired at him after they blocked his path. He died on
Four unidentified gunmen the spot. Tricycle driver Ramon Laude was also wounded during
DATE: 21 November 2006 the shooting. The attackers took Iñoza’s mobile phone, wallet
AHRC UA-380-2006 and other personal belongings before fleeing on foot. Five spent
.45-calibre pistol shells and five 9mm pistol shells were recovered
by police investigators from the crime scene.
Iñoza had been the president of the Alaska Milk Workers Union
at a local factory for about ten years. He was also the provincial
chair of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino-Partido ng
Manggagawa. His colleagues believe that he could have been
killed because of his work as a labour leader.
24
Ranbert Placencia:
VICTIM: Ranbert Placencia “You were the one who prevented the mining!”
INCIDENT: Killing On 4 September 2006, Ranbert Placencia was on his way to
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS: work on his motorcycle when seven unidentified armed men
Seven unidentified gunmen
DATE: 4 September 2006 wearing military-style clothing blocked his way along Purok 8,
AHRC UA-300-2006 Sta. Monica, Nuevo Iloco, in the Mawab municipality of the
Compostela Valley. The gunmen pointed their firearms at him
and questioned his identity. One of them, in a balaclava, was
armed with an Uzi machine gun and a .45-calibre pistol. He
searched for Ranbert’s mobile phone and seized his bag.
A witness heard an argument between Placencia and the
armed men prior to the shooting. One of the armed men said,
“You were the one who prevented the mining activity in San
Isidro!” Placencia responded, “It’s the people’s will!”
Soon after, several gunshots were heard. Witnesses saw the
gunmen shooting at Placencia with the Uzi, a .45-calibre pistol,
an M-14 Armalite, a garand rifle and an M-203. The gunmen
then immediately fled on motorcycles towards Nuevo Iloco.
Placencia suffered nine gunshot wounds to his chest and head.
Placencia was the chairman of the community in Purok 9A
San Isidro, Nuevo Iloco, municipal coordinator of the Anak Pawis
Party, a member of the Nuevo Iloco Farmers Association, and
chairman and a council member of Nagkahiusang Mag-uuma
sa Mawab. He was also employed by the National Irrigation
Administration.
On August 31, three days after they went missing, the body of
Ali Barabato was found on the shoreline in Barangay Aumbay,
Island Garden City, Samal, Davao del Norte. Ali’s family heard
about the discovery from a news report and rushed to the funeral
parlour where his body was kept.
According to Alma, her husband’s body bore traces of brutal
torture. His hands were tied behind his back with wire. His body
and his legs were also wrapped in wire. He had a gunshot wound
on his upper forehead and three gunshot wounds to his neck.
“scandal”
Magbubukid ng Bicol (Farmers’ Movement in Bicol) affiliated with this is a
the peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Farmers’
Movement of the Philippines).
A fact-finding mission conducted in August 2006 by local —Marjorie Lord,
persons collected testimonies and evidence regarding the killing. England
The police and military have also conducted investigations into
the case, but their reports are yet to be released.
“ prosecute the
perpetrators!
She suddenly noticed a gunman leaning on one side of the hut
with his gun aimed at her. She said “There’s somebody...” before
being shot twice in the hip. She tried to move away, but the
break gunman continued to fire and killed her on the spot.
Ricardo feared for their grandchildren’s safety, and tried
impunity!..
—Fara Diva Cortes
Gamalo, Leyte
” running towards the vehicle where they were but another
gunman shot him dead too.
During the shooting, the five people inside the hut dropped to
the ground, fearing that they would be shot also. After the gunmen
fled on a motorcycle, they took the grandchildren inside while
Rudy’s wife Marga Paat called Alena and informed her about the
shooting. Alena immediately sought the assistance of the police.
According to Alena, they didn’t seem to believe her story or take
any immediate action to investigate the incident. Around
midnight, the police finally arrived at the crime scene to
investigate.
Elena suffered 14 gunshot wounds to different parts of her body;
her partner Ricardo suffered two gunshot wounds to his right
side. The five people inside the hut could not see the gunmen
clearly because there was a power shutdown at the time.
The police have claimed to have made arrests, yet no proper
and impartial investigation was carried out into the incident.
The presidentially-appointed Melo Commission recorded the
following on the case in its January 2007 report (page 48):
A witness, Bayani Villanueva, gave a supplemental statement dated June
1, 2006 that on May 10, 2006 at around 8 p.m., while on board his
motorcycle going to the house of Ruby Corpuz in Barangay Garet Sur,
Echague, Isabela to meet with Ricardo Balauag he heard several bursts of
gun fire prompting him to seek cover and at that juncture he saw two
armed men in black sweaters riding in tandem on a sports-type
motorcycle removing their bonnet masks while fleeing towards his
direction. As the light of his motorcycle was still on, he was able to
identify Renato Busania and Timoteo Corpuz whom he supposedly met
on March 2, 2006 after he was told by Ricardo Balauag about the two
persons frequenting his house and threatening him with harm if he
failed to produce something.
“I find it sick
that people
would actually
in the killing of one of the members of the Panabo City Police
Office, which is leading investigation of the case. A reliable source
connected to the victim has claimed that a hired killer was paid
150,000 Pesos (USD 3000) to carry out the murder, and that this
person in turn had hired a Panabo City policeman to do it. This
”
do this..
—Nancy Nguyen,
information was confirmed by two separate sources. These
allegations, however, have not been adequately investigated.
On December 11 the presidentially-appointed Melo
Australia
Commission investigated the killing of the Cabanit and recorded
the following in its January 2007 report (pages 36–38):
Enrico Cabanit was the chairperson of the WADECOR Employees and
Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association, Inc. (“WEARBAI”) and the
Secretary General of Pambansang Ugnayan ng mga Nagsasariling
Organisasyon sa Kanayunan (“UNORKA-National”). He was assassinated
by an unidentified gunman wearing a bonnet at the public market of
Panabo City, Davao Del Norte on April 24, 2006. Wounded in the incident
was Daffodil Cabanit, Enrico Cabanit’s daughter.
As witnesses, the Commission called P/Senior Investigator Wilfredo
Puerto and PO3 Domingo Ranain, who investigated the Cabanit murder.
PSI Puerto is the Intelligence Officer of the Panabo City Police Station,
while Ranain is the police investigator on duty for the Cabanit murder.
They both claimed that they already “solved” the crime and that it was a
certain Enrique Solon who was the gunman. Enrique Solon was
supposedly identified post mortem by eyewitnesses, as he had been
killed in similar fashion in General Santos City some days later. Likewise,
a certain Benedick Mallorca supposedly overheard Solon drunkenly
boasting about killing Cabanit.
However, there are numerous discrepancies and suspicious details
regarding the investigation which tended to disprove the police theory,
thereby prompting the General Counsel to intensively cross-examine
the witnesses. In particular, the following details were suspicious:
- The body of Cabanit was not autopsied before burial, in violation of
standard procedure, and despite requests for autopsy by Cabanit’s
family.
- The supposed eyewitness, Mr. Ryan Catalan, never stated in his
affidavit that he saw the face of the assailant. Hence, his identification
of Solon’s body as the gunman is unreliable.
- Solon’s body and face at the time the supposed witnesses identified it
were severely swollen (as shown in the submitted picture), that it was
virtually impossible to identify him based on his alleged fleeting
appearance at the crime scene.
- The police reported that Cabanit was shot with a 9mm handgun
three times, and that they recovered 9mm cartridges at the scene of the
crime. However, the NBI expert witness stated that, upon his
examination, Cabanit sustained only two (2) gunshot wounds and
that, due to their diameter, they could not have been caused by a 9mm
slug, but only by no less than .45 caliber pistol slugs.
- The police did not bother to bring Daffodil Cabanit to see and identify
Solon as the gunman. Daffodil Cabanit is in the best position to see,
describe and identify her father’s assailant.
49
Rico Adeva: Shot face down in river basin
VICTIM: Rico Adeva On 15 April 2006 Rico Adeva (39) and his wife Nenita were on
INCIDENT: Killing their way to Talisay town in Negros Occidental when they were
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS: stopped by armed men. It was around 4pm as the couple passed
Ronald Europa,
Revolutionary Proletarian through the Imbang River when three men wearing jackets and
Army–Alex Boncayao armed with .45-calibre pistols blocked their way. Rico was shot
Brigade member
member,, “Boy after they were told to turn their backs and lie down with their
Negro” & unidentified man
DATE: 15 April 2006 faces to the ground. He suffered ten gunshot wounds in the head,
AHRC UA-130-2006 ears, hands and torso.
UP-175-2006
Rico’s wife Nenita said that his murder was prompted by his
involvement in the struggle for agrarian reform. He was a staff
member of Task Force Mapalad, an agrarian organisation
assisting peasant beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Programme to claim lands awarded to them.
In a sworn statement on April 24 Nenita identified two of the
gunmen as Ronald Europa, a distant relative of her husband,
and another person known as Boy Negro. Ronald Europa has been
confirmed to be a member of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army–
Alex Boncayao Brigade rebel group. Nenita recounted having met
with Ronald in 1997 and 1998, when he and his companions
visited their house. Nenita had not seen him again since.
However, some Task Force Mapalad leaders had reportedly been
approached by the three gunmen on April 9, who had asked what
day Adeva usually came that way. Since then, Ronald and his
group had been seen passing through Barangay San Antonio each
day.
Although the rebel group’s leadership has reportedly confirmed
that Ronald Europa is their member in the Silay area, no arrest
has been made. They have also insisted that since 2000 Ronald
has been based in an area far from the barangay where the killing
took place. Ronald’s unnamed brother, alleged to have been the
other person involved in the killing, has just recently joined the
group and is based in Central Region, Himamaylan. However the
group has reportedly denied knowing the other gunman, Boy
Negro.
64 article 2 February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1
Elpidio de la Victoria: No empty threats 50
Elpidio de la Victoria, programme director of the environmental VICTIM: Elpidio de la Victoria
organisation Cebu City Bantay Dagat Commission, was shot in INCIDENT: Killing
ALLEGED PERPETRATOR:
front of his house in Barangay Dauis, Talisay City on 12 April SPO1 Marcial Ocampo
2006. He died from multiple gunshot wounds a day after the DATE: 12 April 2006
incident. AHRC UA-131-2006
53 Liezelda Estorba-Cuñado:
VICTIMS: Shot by neighbour after being labelled communist
1. Liezelda Estorba-Cuñado Liezelda “Inday” Estorba-Cuñado (30) and her husband Gerry
(killed)
2. Gerry Cuñado (wounded) (30) were awakened at dawn on 3 April 2006 in Panadtaran,
INCIDENT: Killing Candijay, Bohol, by their neighbour Joel Bayron and his wife.
ALLEGED PERPETRATOR: They were shouting in front of their house, and yelling that the
Joel Bayron, suspected
member of Barangay Cuñados were communists and terrorists. They also accused
Intelligence Network under Gerry and Liezelda of throwing rocks at their house the night
15th IB before.
DATE: 3 April 2006
AHRC UA-118-2006 Gerry suggested that the Bayrons should solve this problem
later in the morning because they were disturbing the neighbours.
Joel left with his wife, but ten minutes later they both returned
and Joel was carrying a gun. He shot Gerry in the arm, and shot
Liezelda at close range in her chest before fleeing.
Other neighbours immediately sent Gerry and Liezelda to the
municipal hospital. Liezelda was declared dead on arrival. Gerry
was later transferred to the Provincial Hospital for treatment.
The local police arrested Joel’s wife, but Joel remains at large.
He is reportedly a member of the Barangay Intelligence Network
handled by the 15th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army, which
had publicly labelled the couple as communists and terrorists;
Liezelda had been a staff member of the Gabriela Women’s Party.
60 Mateo Morales:
VICTIM: Mateo Morales Death follows series of attacks and threats
INCIDENT: Killing Mateo Morales, a staff member of the Religious of the Good
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS:
Cafgu personnel attached to Shepherd (RGS) – Tribal Filipino Ministry, was killed in his house
the 29th IB, commanded by in San Luis, Agusan del Sur, Mindanao on 24 January 2006.
Lt. Col. TTaboga
aboga Morales suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his chest and died on
DATE: 24 January 2006
his way to hospital. Although the perpetrator has not been
AHRC UA-057-2006
identified, there are indications that he may have connections
with the civilian militia unit Cafgu, attached to the 29th Infantry
Battalion of the Philippine Army, which is operating in the area.
Days after Morales’ shooting, four to six unidentified armed
Cafgu were seen close to the victim’s house, during his wake.
On January 26, two unidentified armed men also tried to enter a
house where Morales’ colleagues were staying, but they failed.
Morales’ wife Aileen believes that the Cafgu could be involved in
his death.
A reliable source said the result of the investigation made by
San Luis Municipal Station head Police Senior Inspector Nilo
Teodoro Texon into Morales’ case was not impartial and has failed
to reach any conclusive findings. Texon did not include the
testimonies of the victim’s family, and ignored incidents prior to
Morales’ death which indicated the possible involvement of Cafgu.
The RGS ministry has been vocal in denouncing alleged human
rights violations perpetrated by Cafgu members and the military
in tribal communities. There had been several earlier incidents
of violence allegedly perpetrated by Cafgu against villagers
associated with the ministry.
On 17 November 2005, unidentified armed men attempted to
break into one of the houses of the ministry’s community leader
while he was sleeping. Next day, there were combat boots prints
Ofelia Rodriguez: 61
“I was only there to look after my sick mother” VICTIM: Ofelia Rodriguez
At around 5.30-6pm on 6 January 2006, Ofelia Rodriguez and INCIDENT: Killing
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS:
her family had just finished dinner in their house in Barangay 69th IB personnel,
Divisoria, Mexico, Pampanga, Luzon. Rodriguez was carrying her commanded by 2nd Lt. John
granddaughter Eliza. She was about to serve her ailing mother a Paul Nicolas,
DATE: 16 January 2006
glass of water when a gunman came to their house and shot her
in the head. Rodriguez died on the spot. AHRC UA-031-2006
“
I am
appalled at
motorcycle had only its driver. The first motorcycle then turned
around in the direction of the victims, while the other continued
on and parked 20 metres further ahead.
what is As the first motorcycle came close to the couple, Daniel noticed
that the rider had positioned his right arm in an angle that
happening in seemed to be pulling out something. Daniel also noticed that
”
our country... the driver was covering his face with a handkerchief. Then he
saw the pillion pointing a pistol towards him and Emmylou. He
—Fr. Joseph Echano, tried to get out of the way, pulling Emmylou with him, but she
Paranaque was hit by a bullet on the right side of her chest, with it exiting
just below her right armpit.
Daniel immediately pulled Emmylou back into a house in the
direction from where they had come and asked for help from
residents there who were watching a basketball match. The
residents accompanied the two victims along the coast and out
onto the highway where they boarded a passenger motorcycle
and headed for a hospital.
At about 10pm Emmylou was taken by an ambulance to the
Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City,
accompanied by her colleagues from Karapatan-Cebu North Area.
The Municipal Mayor of Tuburan also sent four police escorts
from the Regional Mobile Group, led by P03 Raul Janetro.
Emmylou survived the attack.
Investigations revealed that the three attackers may have
been members of the 78th IB staying on the street. Within hours
of the incident, the soldiers are reported to have fled from the
area, together with Ritchel Buhawi, a caretaker at the house.
However, the chief of the Tuburan police, Inspector Crisanto
Duque, reportedly showed little effort to pursue them, and did
not summon Buhawi for questioning over the identities of the
soldiers. Nor did he summon Councillor Tabotabo, who may have
been able to assist the investigations. Inspector Duque also
rejected the victims’ request to attempt to do sketches of the
attackers.
coordinator of the Bayan Muna party for Ilocos Region was shot 73
dead by unidentified gunmen at around 4:30pm along 3rd Kayang VICTIM: Romeo Sanchez
Street in Baguio City, while he was buying used clothing in a INCIDENT: Killing
ALLEGED PERPETRATOR:
market with two officemates, Abraham Austin and Beth Alfiler. Unidentified gunmen
The three had just finished shopping and were on their way to a DATE: 9 March 2005
consultation when Austin and Alfier, who were walking ahead of AHRC UP-029-2005
Sanchez, heard gunfire. When they turned around they saw him
on the ground. An autopsy report later showed Sanchez died from
a single bullet to his head.
Two policemen arrived and investigated the crime scene. More
policemen from Baguio City Police arrived and likewise conducted
investigations.
On 8 May 2000, Sanchez and one colleague had been arrested
by elements of the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of
the Philippines in Binangonan, Rizal on suspicion of being
involved in the killing of a rebel priest. They were allegedly
tortured while in custody. After his release on July 19 of the PHOTO: Stop the killings
same year, Sanchez had been harassed and threatened by
persons believed to be from the military.
His successor in the Bayan Muna party post, Jose Manegdeg,
was also killed later in the year (see above).
Ricardo Uy: 75
War of words with army ends with bullets in the back VICTIM: Ricardo Uy
On 18 November 2005 at 11am Ricardo Uy (57), chairperson of INCIDENT: Killing
ALLEGED PERPETRATOR:
the Bayan Muna party in Sorsogon City, was shot dead inside Unidentified gunman
his Soledad Corral Uy Ricemill in Barangay Basud. Uy’s assistant DATE: 18 November 2005
heard gunshots ring out and when he ran inside he saw a AHRC UP-143-2005
gunman in sunglasses and wearing a hat had shot Uy in the
back. The gunman aimed at the assistant, but his gun was empty.
He calmly walked to a motorcycle parked close to the rice mill
and left.
At the time of his death, Uy was the radio anchor of a morning
program at dzRS Sorsogon radio. He was a hard-hitting critic of
the militarisation of the towns of Sorsogon and other policies of
the government that he considered anti-poor.
Since 2004, the military had been vilifying Uy as a communist
supporter and recruiter of the New People’s Army in their own
radio programmes on dzMS.
77 Ernesto Bang & Joel Reyes: “No witnesses had come out
VICTIMS: in the open for fear of reprisal”
1. Ernesto Bang On 10 and 16 March 2005, Ernesto Bang (50) and Joel Reyes
2. Joel Reyes
INCIDENT: Killing (33) were slain in separate shooting incidents in Camarines
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS: Norte, Luzon.
Unidentified gunmen
DATE: 10 & 16 March 2005 Bang, an information officer of Kilusang Magbubukid ng
AHRC UP-075-2005 Pilipinas, a peasant organization, was shot dead on 10 March
2005 in his house in Purok 3, Barangay Malangcao in Basud.
One of four armed men who arrived at his house shot him after
he opened his front door to find out who was knocking.
Six days later in a nearby municipality, Reyes, a trishaw driver
and organizer for the Anakpawis party, was also shot dead by one
of his passengers. The suspects who posed as passengers boarded
his vehicle at a public market and shot him before reaching the
boundary of Barangays Callero and Nakalaya, Jose Panganiban.
Reyes died on the spot from several gunshot wounds.
Policemen from the Jose Panganiban municipal police and
the Scene of the Crime Operation Team officers were not able to
produce witnesses or sufficient material evidence.
In a letter dated May 31 to the Asian Human Rights
Commission Marcelo Ele Jr., Police Director of the Philippine
National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detective
Management (DIDM) said that “no witnesses had come out in
the open for fear of reprisal”. He added that in Bang’s case even
“relatives of the victim, when interviewed revealed that they
are no longer interested in filing the case due to the absence of
a witness who could identify the suspect”. Another dated 29 July
2005 from Chief Superintendent Charlegne Alejandrino, deputy
director for DIDM, added that the police could do nothing unless
the witnesses “come out in the open and willingly support the
prosecution of these cases”.
techniques. Despite the Act for Witness Protection, Security and Benefit
(Republic Act 6981), witnesses to acts of murder and other grave crimes
in the Philippines know full well that they risk the same fate if they dare
to come forward with information. While this is especially the case in
the unabated killings of human rights defenders and social activists,
flagrant targetted killings of ordinary criminal suspects--such as petty
criminals in Davao and Cebu--are also on the rise, sometimes with the
public endorsement of local officials.
Letters to the AHRC repeatedly speak to the failure of police to obtain
witnesses even in crimes where the victims are killed in busy
marketplaces or houses occupied by the families of victims, and to the
fact that this problem is recognised but not addressed by the authorities.
For instance, in one letter from 2005 Marcelo Ele Jr., Police Director of
the Philippine National Police (PNP) Directorate for Investigation and
Detective Management, said that no witnesses had come forward in the
killings of Ernesto Bang and Joel Reyes for fear of reprisal. This is despite
the fact that Bang was shot at the front door to his house with his family
inside, and Reyes was shot dead in a public a market. After Dario Oresca,
a witness to the murder of Reyes was found, he too was killed. He had
received no protection.
Even where a case is filed in court, prolonged delays cause greater and
greater risks both to the witnessess and the case itself, an issue strongly
adverted to in the chapter on the Philippines in the AHRC’s recently-
released State of Human Rights in Ten Asian Nations—2005 report. There
is little evidence that the Action Program for Judicial Reform (APJR)
adopted by the Supreme Court in December 2000, which includes in its
mandate the speedy processing of cases, is making much headway, and
it continues to lack adequate funding from the government.
As a consequence, more and more Filipinos are taking the law into their
own hands. The loss of trust and confidence in the police and judiciary
among victims seeking justice, and implied approval of murders by
government officials demonstrate the country’s deteriorating law and
order and give little cause for surprise when people go outside the law
to resolve disputes and seek vengeance.
All of this indicates the extent to which the government of the Philippines
has disregarded its international obligations. In its concluding
observations on the state’s compliance with the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights of December 1, 2003, the U.N. Human Rights
Committee urged that, “The State party should ensure that all allegations
of torture are effectively and promptly investigated by an independent
“ the international
community is
closely
check him.
According to Rogelio, the soldiers then cooked the fish and
frogs that they had caught themselves, and he overheard
somebody say, “We will charge this guy with being New People’s
monitoring the Army.” Another said, “We will finish him off,” but a further soldier
said that he was already dead.
situation and will
Sensing that the soldiers were busy eating, Rogelio slowly
hold the crawled to the riverbank to get into some grass for cover. After
Department of several minutes, the military noticed that he had disappeared
Justice and they searched the area but did not find him. They left after
several minutes. Rogelio then crawled back to the place of
accountable for incident so that his family could locate him.
failure to act to Meanwhile, Ricky had run to get help from his uncle, Richard,
prevent further loss who immediately left the house to rescue his brother. But Richard
did not reach Rogelio, as he was met with bullets. Three of
—Joshua Goldberg,
Canada
”
of life....
Richard’s brothers also tried to retreat when they met gunfire,
but were shot dead.
At hospital it was found that Rogelio had 12 gunshot wounds,
but only four bullets had penetrated: two in his back, one in his
left side and one in his lower left. Ricky sustained 11 gunshot
wounds, but only two bullets penetrated: one in the lower left leg
and one in the left side of his body. He was brought to hospital by
his grandmother. Richard was hit 13 times, but only two bullets
penetrated, including one in his left shoulder, which exited from
his armpit.
On 18 February 2005 the survivors of the attack, Richard,
Rogelio and Ricky, were themselves charged with attempted
murder at the Municipal Circuit Trial Court III in Padada-
Kiblawan, Davao del Sur, after the army claimed that the were
fired upon after they ambushed its troops. The case was dismissed
for lack of evidence; however, the judge recommended a charge
of rebellion be filed against the accused instead, which was
subsequently done at Regional Trial Court 20 in Digos City. On
21 March 2006 the judge presiding over the pre-trial hearings
on the charge of rebellion ordered the prosecutor to have the
case reinvestigated, and on March 31 the prosecutor
recommended that this charge also be dropped for lack of evidence.
On April 24 the judge finally ordered the case dismissed.
Meanwhile, on 7 March 2005 charges were filed with the public
prosecutor in Digos City against two lieutenants and several
others attached to the 25th Infantry Battalion. The prosecutor
finished work on the case on May 21 and forwarded the case file
to the office of the Ombudsman for Military and Other Law
Enforcement Office in Mindanao on June 15. On July 19, that
office forwarded the file to the ombudsman’s headquarters in
Quezon City. Since that time the case has been inactive.
Forced disappearance
82 Jaime Fernando: An empty fishing boat
VICTIM: Jaime Fernando After midnight on 20 November 2006, unidentified members
INCIDENT: Disappearance of the military came to Wawang Atlag, Malolos, Bulacan and
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS:
Unidentified military gathered all men in the said village, took their pictures and left
personnel at around 1am.
DATE: 20 November 2006
AHRC UA-380-2006
At around 2 to 2:30am, Jaime Fernando was last seen at the
Panasahan fish market, located near a military barracks. At
around 7am, his empty boat was recovered floating near the fish
market in Malolos; he has not been seen since. His disappearance
is suspected to be connected with the activities in his village of
that night.
83
Edgar Sabdula: Abducted from house one night
VICTIM: Edgar Sabdula On 22 October 2006, a former member of the insurgent Moro
INCIDENT: Disappearance National Liberation Front, Edgar Sabdula (36), was forcibly
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS: abducted in his residence in Purok 1, Uyanguren, Tigatto,
Unidentified armed men
DATE: 22 October 2006 Buhangin District, Davao City. At about 12:15am, a number of
AHRC UA-363-2006 hooded perpetrators in combat shoes and armed with rifles or
machine guns barged into the house and took him from in front
of his wife and into one of three vehicles: a blue L-300 van, a
white van and a third unidentified vehicle, without plate
numbers. His whereabouts remain unknown to date.
Philip Limjoco: 88
Disappeared after delivering son to bus station VICTIM: Philip Limjoco
Philip Limjoco was last seen by his son Glen at a bus terminal INCIDENT: Disappearance
in Dau, Pampanga around 8:20am on 8 May 2006. Glen had gone ALLEGED PERPETRATORS:
Unidentified police or
to visit some of father’s friends in the area together with him military personnel
and was going back to Manila. On their way Glen noticed that a DATE: 8 May 2006
white Toyota Revo with tinted windows and number plates AHRC UA-170-2006
covered with dark fiberglass was following their car. When they
arrived at the terminal, the car had disappeared.
Once Glen reached Manila around 9:30am he sent a text
message to his father, but he did not receive a reply. Around
10:30am, he sent another, and tried to call his mobile phone at
around 11am, but no one answered. Glen first thought that his
father might be driving or busy, but when he failed to get any
response by evening he began to worry. Then he asked some of
his relatives if his father had contacted them or if they knew of
his whereabouts; but they did not.
On May 9, Glen sought the help from human rights group
Karapatan. In July 2005 he had done so once after unidentified
men following him wherever he went. Glen had no idea as to
why he was stalked, except that his father was accused of being
a member of the New People’s Army.
Philip Limjoco was included on a list of 51 individuals charged
with rebellion by the Department of Justice that was reportedly
drawn up by the police Directorate and Investigation and
90
Ronald Intal: “His appointment is not yet over”
VICTIM: Ronald Intal Ronald Intal (24) was forcibly taken by armed men at around
INCIDENT: Disappearance 11am near a motorcycle terminal in Barangay Balete, Hacienda
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS: Luisita on 3 April 2006 and taken towards 70th Infantry Battalion
70th IB personnel
DATE: 3 April 2006 headquarters in Aqua Farm of the barangay.
AHRC UA-127-2006
The victim’s father Gonzalo went to the military headquarters
on April 8 to inquire about his son’s whereabouts, but the military
denied having him in their custody. Gonzalo and his wife Lourdes
then sought the assistance of Tarlac City Vice-Mayor Teresita
Cabal.
Vice-Mayor Cabal told them that their son was being held by
the army’s Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) and that he would
only be released after Major General Jovito Palparan, then head
92 article 2 February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1
of the 7th Infantry Division, gave an order. “General Palparan
will not release him yet because his appointment is not yet over,”
she reportedly said. However, Colonel Cesar Yano, Nolcom chief
of staff publicly announced that they had not received any report
from the barangay or local police officials about the incident.
Rodel Galang, village chief of Balete, reportedly tried to
interview witnesses in connection with Ronald’s disappearance,
but they gave conflicting accounts while others refused to speak.
Ronald was an active youth leader deeply involved in the
Hacienda Luisita farm workers’ struggle (see above). He was also
leader of the Samahan ng mga Kabataang Demokratiko sa
Asyenda Luisita (Association of Democratic Youth in Hacienda
Luisita) and the Anak ng Bayan (Children of the People) political
party.
Dario Almonte: 91
Pulled out of house in front of neighbours and family VICTIM: Dario Almonte
On 6 April 2006 Dario Almonte was forcibly abducted in front INCIDENT: Disappearance
of his sister’s house in Puyo Compound, Sta. Clara, Batangas ALLEGED PERPETRATORS:
20 unidentified armed men
City by at least 20 armed men riding in two service vehicles, DATE: 6 April 2006
some wearing hoods, who entered the compound with a couple AHRC UA-124-2006
who had peddled ice cream in the area the day before apparently
acting as informants.
The armed men surrounded Almonte’s house and those
adjacent, and grabbed him when he came out. Dario’s wife Cherry
and other relatives tried to fight with the perpetrators, but the
latter pointed guns at them. Dario clung to a post, but lost his
grip when hit with an Armalite rifle. Soon after, the perpetrators
took him with them in one of their vehicles, which had been
parked nearby.
Dario’s family immediately sought help from the former
barangay chairperson, Thelma Maranan, who in turn asked help
from the town mayor, Eddie Dimacuha, who in turn contacted
the city police chief, Superintendent Anzo, who said that the
victim was not in police custody and instead suggested that he
could be in the custody of the Intelligence Division of the Fernando
Air Base, as he had arrest warrants pending against him at police
headquarters and the Regional Police Office in Camp Caringal
in Canlubang. However, when the victim’s family and fellow
villagers went to check at the Fernando Air Base, the camp’s
acting commander, Colonel Facalso, denied having him in their
custody.
The victim’s whereabouts remain unknown. His abduction is
believed to be related to his opposition to the planned demolition
of urban areas in Sta. Clara, Batangas by the Philippine Ports
Authority for an expansion project, in his capacity as leader of
the People’s Coalition for Alternative Development.
In a letter to the AHRC the Philippine army denied that such
a case of forced disappearance had occured but failed to explain
what investigation or otherwise had been undertaken to reach
that conclusion.
article 2 February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1 93
92 Rogelio Concepcion:
VICTIM: Rogelio Concepcion Labour leader dragged from front of workplace
INCIDENT: Disappearance Labour leader Rogelio Concepcion disappeared on 6 March 2006
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS:
24th IB personnel after being abducted by men riding on a motorcycle as he left the
DATE: 6 March 2006 Solid Development Corporation factory in Barangay Mataas na
AHRC UA-087-2006 Parang, San Ildefonso, Bulacan where he worked, to go home.
UP-052-2006 Concepcion’s fellow workers were frightened and fled to safety
upon seeing the armed men seizing him. None have shown
interest in cooperating with the authorities in investigations as
they also fear for their lives.
Concepcion’s family fears that he could have been abducted
and killed by elements of the 24th Infantry Battalion of the
Philippine Army. Marissa reportedly spotted a van parked near
their house on the afternoon of March 6. The van stayed until
late evening.
In November 2005, elements of the 24th IB entered the Solid
Development Corporation factory and conducted a “military
census” among the workers, then remained stationed in the
compound. Concepcion and his colleague, Ador Vasalio, were
reportedly monitored by the military since. Concepcion was
officer-in-charge of the Solid Development Corporation Workers
Association (SDCWA) and Vasalio its former president. In May
2005 the SDCWA had staged a strike because the management
refused to recognise the union, despite a Department of Labor
and Employment decision declaring the union “sole and exclusive
bargaining agent”.
The AHRC released a statement on the abduction of
Concepcion and another victim of forced disappearance, Joey
Estriber (see below) on March 20:
On 3 March 2006, Joey Estriber was waiting for a lift home in Baler,
Aurora, when four armed men suddenly dragged him into a nearby van
and drove off. Days later, Rogelio Concepcion was also forcibly
disappeared in San Ildefonso, Bulacan on March 6. According to witnesses,
“ I am in no
organisation,
two men riding on a motorcycle grabbed him as he left his work at the
Solid Development Corporation factory. Concepcion is a labour leader,
while Estriber is a staff member of the Bataris Formation Center. The
men, their families and colleagues had been followed by military
personnel, and threatened and harassed prior to their abductions. There
I am just is little to suggest that serious criminal inquiries into their disappearances
will follow: to date none of the possible perpetrators among the military
disgusted by are known to have been investigated. The two cases are already following
the familiar pattern known to people throughout the Philippines, with
this— little or no investigation and an absence of witnesses and accompanying
evidence leading to “case closed” without result.
corrupt One reason for this failure is that there is no law prohibiting forced
”
disappearance in the Philippines, despite the frequency of blatant
bastards! abductions there. Without a law, relatives of men like Estriber and
Concepcion have little hope for adequate and effective investigations
—David Twigg, UK followed by prosecutions and punishment of the perpetrators, as well as
compensation. They have nowhere to turn. Although the proposed Act
Defining and Penalizing the Crime of Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearance (HB 1556) is pending before the parliament, it has been
105
105 Rundren Berloize Lao & others:
VICTIMS: Suffocated, electrocuted and beaten
1. Rundren Berloize Lao
2. Anderson Alonzo Eleven young persons—two of them minors—were brutally
3. Aldoz Christian Manoza tortured and subsequently falsely charged following their arrest
4. Ron Pandino on 14 February 2006 at a checkpoint in Abatan, Buguias, Benguet
5. Ray Lester Mendoza
6. Jethro Villagracia while hitching a ride on a dump truck on their way to Sagada,
7. Neil Russel Balajadia Mountain Province. When they reached Abatan, Buguias,
8. Darwin Alagar Benguet, they were stopped by heavily-armed policemen allegedly
9. Arvie Nunez
10. Jefferson de la Rosa attached to the Provincial Police Mobile Group and the Regional
11. Frencess Ann Bernal Mobile Group of Benguet. They ordered the victims to get down
INCIDENTS: Illegal arrest & from the dump truck and ordered them to kneel down, kicking
detention; torture
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS: their backs with such force that they all fell face-first to the
1604th PMG personnel led ground. The policemen started severely beating them one after
by Pol. Suptdt. Brent the other and threatening to kill them. Every time the police
Madjaco; 3rd Company
RMG, led by Pol. Snr
Snr.. Insp. noticed any movement from the victims, they were punched,
Joseph Paolo Bayungasan, kicked and hit. One of the victims was forced to kiss the mouth
and unidentified military of a policemen’s dog.
agents
DATES: 14-16 February 2006 After their belongings were confiscated, the eleven were taken
AHRC UA-082-2006 to the 1604th PPMG camp, where they were allegedly further
UP-063-2006 tortured. They were beaten on different parts of their bodies, and
UP-067-2006 exposed under the heat of the sun with hands tied behind their
UP-092-2006
backs. They were also blindfolded, beaten in the genitals and
UP-099-2006
UP-100-2006 threatened with death. Some of the victims were thrown into a
UP-115-2006 pit and had soil, garbage and other matter dumped over their
UP-137-2006 heads. They were electrocuted, stepped on and their fingers were
UP-152-2006
squeezed with bullets inserted between them. Others were
UP-002-2007
suffocated with plastic bags or had their heads forced into pails
of water. Buckets were also hung on their heads and water was
poured into them. They were also forced to strip naked and had
freezing water sprayed onto them.
The victims were tortured in order to force them to admit
responsibility for a raid of a military camp in Cabiten, Mankayan,
Benguet on February 10. A rebel group had already admitted
responsibility for the raid. While in police custody, four of the
victims were ordered to sketch the supposed battle area and then
guide the police to locate the supposed hidden firearms in the
mountains. When the police failed to find anything there they
tortured the victims further.
While in police custody, one of the victims, Rundren Berloize
Lao, was able to escape by jumping into a ravine beside the camp
and running for safety while being fired upon by policemen. He
went back to Baguio City and sought help there from the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The
DSWD, however, turned Rundren over to the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI). Soon after, elements of the PPMG and RMG
served an arrest warrant on Rundren, together with the others,
for robbery with homicide. The victims were held in Benguet
Provincial Jail where they had no adequate medical treatment
or counselling.
“ my brother
who is a human
rights lawyer in
against 11 persons--including two minors--in Buguias, Benguet on 14
February 2006 is yet another instance of the arbitrary use of authority by
the police and military in the Philippines. As the Asian Human Rights
Commission (AHRC) reported earlier, the group were arrested in the
north of the country while hitchhiking on a truck, and allegedly beaten
the Philippines and kicked by members of the 1604th Police Provincial Mobile Group.
Back at the police camp, they were accused of being part of a February 10
was shot last raid on a military base, and again allegedly subjected to extremely cruel
year—fortunately torture, including genital beating, suffocation and electrocution. They
have been in custody since, and the trial against them is now getting
he survived but underway.
many others like Despite the gravity of the victims’ allegations against the police, there is
no way for them to lodge complaints or obtain redress as envisaged by
him have not. common article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Please stop the Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment--both of which the government of
109
Rev. Fr. Terry Revollido & others:
VICTIMS: Men coming in boots and white vans
1. Eleuterio J. Revollido As chairperson of the human rights group Bayan in
2. Mariano Sepnio (killed) Pangasinan province of Luzon, Rev. Fr. Eleuterio “Terry” J.
INCIDENTS:
Intimidation; killing Revollido has been subjected to monitoring and harassment by
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS: military and police intelligence units.
Military or police intelligence
personnel Towards the end of 2005, Fr. Terry’s seminary janitor informed
DATE: Since end 2005 him that he was visited three times by suspicious looking and
AHRC UA-252-2006 well-built persons who asked about the activities and personalities
of those coming and going at the seminary. Fr. Terry was not in
his house on their third visit, but his son recalled that the men
entered inside the house by force. According to his son, they
were wearing “boots and riding in a white van”. Later the
seminary assisted the family to construct a steel fence at their
house for security.
At the beginning of 2006, one of Fr. Terry’s colleagues was
allegedly approached by a man who claimed that he was working
with the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency and that he
would give money for information about the activities of Fr. Terry.
Meanwhile, two members of the seminary have themselves
been killed in recent times. Seminary vice chairman Mariano
Sepnio was killed on 9 March 2006 by two armed men riding a
motorcycle among some who were seen buying cigarettes in a
nearby store but who did not remove their helmets. Some others
had spent some hours just standing close to the seminary for
successive nights. The general secretary, Jose Doton, was also
ambushed and killed on 16 May 2006 (see case above).
On another occasion a suspicious-looking man appeared at
the seminary and asked for help. Because it was vacation, only
a few people were in residence. The man went up to the second
floor of the main building and knocked on every door of the staff
houses, which was unusual for a man asking for money for the
“burial of his brother”. On the afternoon of the same day, while
waiting for a vehicle in front of the seminary one of the male
lecturers saw another man in a L300 Mitsubishi van keenly
viewing him from a distance. The vehicle reportedly carried a
police logo on the back.
114 article 2 February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1
Fr. Rolando de Leon: 110
Church service ends with bullets instead of coins VICTIM: Rolando de Leon
Another priest whose work has suffered constant harassment INCIDENT: Intimidation
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS:
is Fr. Rolando de Leon (50), Roman Catholic Priest of the Diocese 56th IB personnel under
of Malolos, Bulacan and Parish Priest of San Andres Apostol command of Lt. Col. Noel
Parish, Norzagaray. He is also the spokesperson for the provincial Clement
DATE: Since October 2005
chapter of human rights group Karapatan, Alyansa ng AHRC UA-219-2005
Mamamayan para sa Pantaong Karapatan (Alma, People’s UP-216-2006
Alliance for Human Rights) and socially-oriented church-based
groups. He has been monitoring human rights violations and
also given support to survivors and their families. He joins fact-
finding missions, dialogues with local government officials and
leads the filing of complaints to the Provincial Government and
the local Commission on Human Rights.
On 30 October 2005, Fr. De Leon received a written death
threats and bullets among donations after morning mass in San
Andres Apostol Parish Church. Four envelopes among collection
bags from the service contained papers each with the message
“A warning for you: You’re next!” Three of the envelopes also
contained one bullet each.
Fr. de Leon recalled that on March 16, a sergeant named
Arnaldo Pagala took a picture of him during a protest rally, while
pretending to be a photojournalist. He was uncovered and it was
later discovered that he had been carrying a .45-calibre pistol.
He was taken to the police headquarters in Malolos where he
had admitted to being a member of Military Intelligence Group
3, under Northern Luzon Command, based in Camp Servillano
Aquino, Tarlac City.
In December 2005 a soldier was seen putting up posters in
the main public square of Norzagaray and the adjoining streets
and bridges containing a picture of a priest celebrating mass
with the hammer-and-sickle logo on the back of his robe. Although
the priest was not identified in the poster, it was believed to
represent Fr. De Leon as there are only two priests in Norzagaray
and the other, his second, had not received any death threats.
During the same month, the army stationed a detachment of
soldiers in front of the neighbourhood clinic from where they
could observe his church.
In March 2006, Fr. De Leon spoke at a press conference about
human rights violations in Bulacan that had been documented
by the Catholic Church’s provincial human rights office in the
capital, Malolos. A few days later General Jovito Palparan Jr.,
military commander of the region at the time, was quoted in the
local newspaper Balita as saying that Father de Leon “cannot be
trusted because he is a liar”.
Moreover, between January and October 2006, the military
organised a series of meetings in five towns of the province at
which it accused Fr. De Leon of being a communist insurgent.
Throughout the year uniformed soldiers came to his convent
asking for him but never indicating the reason. Uniformed and
armed soldiers also sometimes sit in the church’s courtyard.
W
ith gross violations of human rights continuing
unabated and avenues for seeking justice and
redress completely lacking, the Philippine
government’s institutions are showing little sign of having the
will or capacity to deliver justice. The human rights crisis in the
country has worsened during 2006. There are numerous serious
cases, in particular the shocking targeted extrajudicial killings
of activists, enforced disappearance and torture, being
documented almost daily. In fact, these gross violations have
already become a subconsciously acceptable way of life for
Filipinos. These rights violation cases only represent a fairly
well-documented fraction of the reality of human rights—or the
lack of—in the country.
While the government claims to have upheld human rights at
home and abroad, in reality the victims of violations and their
relatives are experiencing the complete opposite. The
government’s election to two of the United Nations main organs—
the Human Rights Council and the Economic and Social Council
in May and November respectively—does not exonerate the
government from its bleak human rights record. Victims have
lost faith in the criminal justice system’s vital pillars: the police,
prosecution and judiciary. Should they file cases in court and
with quasi-judicial bodies, expectations are low concerning the
delivery of adequate and prompt justice in most cases.
What can victims expect from the Philippine National Police
(PNP) when in fact its personnel are not only entirely incapable
of carrying out effective investigations, but some stand accused
of having committed—or being accomplices to—these crimes?
While the police are on occasion able to identify suspects, make
arrests and file charges in court, the results of investigations
are frequently challenged or questioned by victims themselves.
Police investigators likewise often make premature
pronouncements as to the motive of killings, and reject any
This article consists of edited extracts from the 2006 Annual Human Rights
Report of the Asian Human Rights Commission, issued on 10 December
2006. The full text of the Philippines chapter is available online at:
http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2006/Philippines2006.pdf
“ none of the
allegations
against Maj.
Major General Jovito Palparan, the former commander of the
7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, and his men stand
accused of the extrajudicial killing of 61-year-old activist Ofelia
Rodriguez (a.k.a. Nanay Perla) of Barangay Divisoria, Mexico,
Pampanga on 16 January 2006; the abduction and extrajudicial
Gen. Palparan killing of Allan Ibasan and Dante Salgado on 30 or 31 January
and his men 2006 at Sta. Ignacia, Tarlac; the extrajudicial killing of 19-year-
old activist Audie Lucero in Barangay Capitangan, Abucay, Bataan
have been on 13 February 2006; the forced disappearance of Reynaldo
thoroughly Manalo (32) and Raymond Manalo (22) of Barangay Bohol na
Mangga, San Ildefonso, Bulacan on 14 February 2006; the forced
”
investigated.... disappearance of labour leader Rogelio Concepcion (36) in
Barangay Mataas na Parang, San Ildefonso, Bulacan on 6 March
2006; and, the forced disappearance of 24-year-old activist Ronald
Intal of Barangay Asturias, Tarlac City on 3 April 2006.
None of these allegations against Major General Palparan and
his men have been thoroughly investigated. The police instead
exonerated him and his men even before subjecting them to
investigations. While the victims and families of the dead are
living in enormous fear, Major General Palparan meanwhile is
receiving commendations from President Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo herself. The president has thereby already exonerated
Major General Palparan of gross abuses even before any impartial
investigation, effective prosecution or court decision. The
president also allegedly attempted to provide Major General
Palparan with de facto immunity by nominating him for
appointment as deputy director for counter-insurgency in the
National Security Council.
“thehasombudsman
failed to
court as the ombudsman has not finished deliberations.
The ombudsman has also failed to promptly resolve cases
concerning allegations of torture, illegal arrest and detention.
promptly No substantial progress has been made concerning the six
policemen accused of brutally torturing eleven persons, including
resolve cases of two minors, in Buguias, Benguet on 14 February 2006. The
ombudsman’s assurances that the alleged torture of Haron
torture, illegal Abubakar Buisan by policemen in General Santos City on 12
December 2005 would be looked into also have produced no result.
arrest & No investigations were conducted or charges have been brought
”
detention.... against the perpetrators. The torture victim remains in jail and
is facing false charges against him as a result of evidence
allegedly collected through the use of torture.
No compensation
Republic Act 7309, an Act creating a Board of Claims under
the Department of Justice for victims of unjust imprisonment or
detention and victims of violent crimes, in principle establishes
a means for compensation in its section 3(d) for “any person who
is a victim of violent crimes [including those] committed with
malice which resulted in death or serious physical and/or
psychological injuries, permanent incapacity or disability,
insanity, abortion, serious trauma, or committed with torture,
cruelly or barbarity”.
The AHRC is not aware of any case where compensation has
been awarded. For example, despite repeated appeals, no
compensation, medical attention or trauma treatment were
afforded to torture victim Haron Abubakar Buisan who is still
detained in General Santos City. And although the Commission
on Human Rights of the Philippines has decided to take up the
complaint of torture victims Jejhon Macalinsal and his two
companions, it has not issued recommendations for them to
receive appropriate compensation and rehabilitation.
“ disappeared
victims’ families
can file habeas
In another case the wife of labour leader Rogelio Concepcion,
who was forcibly abducted and disappeared on 6 March 2006, is
living in total insecurity. After Rogelio’s abduction, Marissa and
her family noticed the suspicious movement of persons not known
corpus petitions to them, who are believed to be closely watching them. Despite
the high security risk that she and her family are facing, she
but cannot has not received any protection or assistance. There has also
been no help from the authorities to locate her husband, who
indict has not been seen since he was abducted. As a result, the family
lives in permanent fear.
perpetrators in There is also the case of journalist and activist Joey Estriber,
”
who was abducted and forcibly disappeared on 3 March 2006. At
court.... around 6:20 pm, Estriber was on his way home, when he was
dragged by four armed men towards a tinted maroon van parked
nearby. As in previous cases, his whereabouts and fate remain
unknown and his family has had difficulty finding assistance
from government agencies.
Disappeared victims’ families can file habeas corpus petitions,
but cannot indict perpetrators in court for the crime of
disappearance despite strong circumstantial evidence showing
the involvement of either the military or the police. Take the
case of two student activists Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño
and peasant Manuel Merino, who were abducted on 26 June 2006
in Hagonoy, Bulacan. Cadapan was pregnant at the time. Although
the Supreme Court has granted the victims’ families petition
for habeas corpus, requiring retired Major General Palparan and
others to produce them in court, no progress has been made
regarding their whereabouts.
In August and October 2006, six people were forcibly abducted
by unknown persons and disappeared in separate incidents in
Mindanao. One of them was later found dead with brutal torture
marks on his body, while another was freed by his captors. Sitti,
the wife of disappeared victim Cadir Malaydan, was with her
husband when he was forcibly abducted by armed men in
Monkayo, Compostela Valley on October 19. There has been no
police investigation and no assistance for her to locate her
husband. Another victim, Ustadz Habib Darupo, was released a
day after he was abducted in Banaybanay, Davao Oriental on
October 24, but only after being tortured by his captors. After his
release, no protection was afforded to him and no assistance was
given to help him recover from the extreme trauma that he
experienced. Again, no effective investigation was conducted to
identify the perpetrators. And although Ali Barabato’s body was
found three days after he was abducted in Davao City on August
28, the whereabouts of his two companions remain unknown.
T
he Asian Legal Resource Centre and Asian Human Rights
Commission call for the following steps to be taken as
top priorities in order to address the grave problems
afflicting the criminal justice system of the Philippines, which
deeply undermine the possibility of all persons in the country
obtaining their fundamental human rights and cause a loss of
respect and expectations in the role of institutions for the rule of
law in the Philippines and the functioning of the state itself.
1. An independent commission be established with the
guidance and technical support of key United Nations agencies
and other international bodies, comprising of senior judges,
competent jurists, reputed academics and representatives from
civil society, including human rights organizations, to undertake
a comprehensive review of the country’s criminal justice system,
and specifically the investigation, prosecution and adjudication
of cases, by way of public consultations and other relevant
methods, in order to identify defects and hindrances and make
full recommendations to the government and notify the public of
the same, in full, within six months.
2. In the interim, both the Department of Justice and
Philippine National Police clarify and widely publicise a rational,
accessible and comprehensive system of witness and victim
protection in accordance with the Witness Protection, Security
and Benefit Act (RA 6981), together with an explicit set of
operational guidelines for police that clearly stipulate officers’
duties to provide protection and spell out the sanctions that will
be taken against officers failing to comply. A full review of the
implementation and limitations of the Witness Protection,
Security and Benefit Act must be included as part of the work of
the abovementioned independent commission.
Sources of information
The first major challenge for my mission was to obtain detailed
and well supported information. I have been surprised by both
the amount and the quality of information provided to me. Most
key Government agencies are organized and systematic in much
of their data collection and classification. Similarly, Philippines
civil society organizations are generally sophisticated and
professional. I sought, and obtained, meetings across the entire
political spectrum. I leave the Philippines with a wealth of
information to be processed in the preparation of my final report.
But the question has still been posed as to whether the
information provided to me by either all, or at least certain, local
NGO groups can be considered reliable. The word ‘propaganda’
was used by many of my interlocutors. What I took them to mean
was that the overriding goal of the relevant groups in raising
extrajudicial execution questions was to gain political advantage
in the context of a broader battle for public opinion and power,
and that the human rights dimensions were secondary at best.
Some went further to suggest that many of the cases were
fabricated, or at least trumped up, to look more serious than they
are.
I consider it essential to respond to these concerns
immediately. First, there is inevitably a propaganda element in
such allegations. The aim is to win public sympathy and to
discredit other actors. But the existence of a propaganda
dimension does not, in itself, destroy the credibility of the
information and allegations. I would insist, instead, on the need
to apply several tests relating to credibility. First, is it only NGOs
from one part of the political spectrum who are making these
allegations? The answer is clearly ‘no’. Human rights groups in
the Philippines range across the entire spectrum in terms of
their political sympathies, but I met no groups who challenged
the basic fact that large numbers of extrajudicial executions are
Extent of my focus
My focus goes well beyond that adopted by either TF Usig or
the Melo Commission, both of which are concerned essentially
with political and media killings. Those specific killings are, in
many ways, a symptom of a much more extensive problem and
we should not permit our focus to be limited artificially. The TF
Usig/Melo scope of inquiry is inappropriate for me for several
reasons:
(a) The approach is essentially reactive. It is not based on an
original assessment of what is going on in the country at large,
but rather on what a limited range of civil society organisations
report. As a result, the focus then is often shifted (unhelpfully) to
the orientation of the civil society organisation, the quality of
the documentation in particular cases, etc.;
(b) Many killings are not reported, or not pursued, and for good
reason; and
(c) A significant proportion of acknowledged cases of
‘disappearances’ involve individuals who have been killed but
who are not reflected in the figures.
Typology
It may help to specify the types of killing which are of particular
concern in the Philippines:
• Killings by military and police, and by the NPA or other
groups, in course of counter-insurgency. To the extent that such
killings take place in conformity with the rules of international
humanitarian law they fall outside my mandate.
• Killings not in the course of any armed engagement but in
pursuit of a specific counter-insurgency operation in the field.
• Killings, whether attributed to the military, the police, or
private actors, of activists associated with leftist groups and
usually deemed or assumed to be covertly assisting CPP-NPA-
NDF. Private actors include hired thugs in the pay of politicians,
landowners, corporate interests, and others.
• Vigilante, or death squad, killings.
• Killings of journalists and other media persons.
• ‘Ordinary’ murders facilitated by the sense of impunity that
exists.
Explanations proffered
When I have sought explanations of the killings I have received
a range of answers.
(i) The allegations are essentially propaganda. I have
addressed this dimension already.
(ii) The allegations are fabricated. Much importance was
attached to two persons who had been listed as killed, but who
were presented to me alive. Two errors, in circumstances which
might partly explain the mistakes, do very little to discredit the
vast number of remaining allegations.
(iii) The theory that the ‘correct, accurate, and truthful’
reason for the recent rise in killings lies in purges committed
by the CPP/NPA. This theory was relentlessly pushed by the AFP
and many of my Government interlocutors. But we must
distinguish the number of 1,227 cited by the military from the
limited number of cases in which the CPP/NPA have
Conclusion
The Philippines remains an example to all of us in terms of
the peaceful ending of martial law by the People’s Revolution,
and the adoption of a Constitution reflecting a powerful
commitment to ensure respect for human rights. The various
measures ordered by the President in response to Melo constitute
important first steps, but there is a huge amount that remains
to be done.
— Professor Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the United
Nations Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions
In fact, Gen. Palparan confirmed his statement given before the House of
Representatives’ Committee on National Defense and Security on May 25,
2005 wherein he said: “I cannot categorically deny that (referring to the military
having special units, not properly identified in bonnets and masks, operating
in the middle of the night.)” Gen. Palparan, however, also said that if there are
facts proving that they (soldiers) are engaged in such activities, he is willing to
submit them. He also denounced any involvement by the AFP in the acts that
may have been carried out by individual soldiers.
...
14. CPP-NPA Purge Theory
Significantly, however, when asked about CPP/NPA’s participation in the
political killings, he testified that the killings are not attributable to the alleged
CPP/NPA purge. “I don’t charge it to NPA purge.” He also mentioned that he
had “to be skeptical on th[ese] report[s].”
III. CASE STUDIES
...
B. Methodology of Attacks
The extrajudicial killings of activists were carried out in a great number of
cases by unidentified men riding on motorcycles wearing helmets or bonnet
masks.
The attackers rode in tandem on their motorcycles, with the backrider getting
off to do the shooting. In some of the cases where the attackers killed their
victims on foot, they made their escape using motorcycles.
The efficiency and confident manner with which the attacks were undertaken
clearly suggest that the killers were well-trained professionals who knew
their business well. Many of the attacks were carried out during daytime and
consummated with a limited number of shots hitting their intended target.
The families of the victims in many of the cases reported previous death threats
or surveillance by suspected military or police personnel.
IV. FINDINGS
Interpreted literally, Article 28(a) adopts the stricter “should have known”
standard. Notably, the Trial Chamber in Celebici strongly suggested that the
language of Article 28(a) may reasonably be interpreted to impose an
affirmative duty to remain informed of the activities of subordinates. However,
given the example afforded by the ICTY’s conflicting interpretations of the
knowledge requirement in Article 86(2) of AP I, it cannot be assumed that a
literal interpretation of Article 28(a) will be adopted by the ICC. In fact, the
meaning of the phrase ‘owing to the circumstances at the time, should have
known’ in Article 28(a) has already become a point of contention within
international law literature. AP I and the Rome Statute, however, have not
been ratified by the Philippines, but clearly the international trend is towards
their application.
From the long line of international conventions and cases, it can be seen that
the doctrine of command responsibility has evolved from its simplistic meaning
at the time of the Hague Convention towards the much more stringent concept
under the Rome Statute. Hence, in the Yamashita case, a commander had the
duty to take appropriate steps or measures to prevent abuses on prisoners and
civilians by his subordinates. In AP I, a superior is responsible if he fails to take
feasible measures to prevent or report violations if he had knowledge or
information of the same. In the Medina standard, the same responsibility extends
to violations or abuses by subordinates which a commander “should have
knowledge” of, meaning that the commander is now responsible for criminal
acts of his subordinates of which he had actual or constructive knowledge. In
the ICTY Statute and in the cases of Delalic and Blaskic, the commander is
liable if he fails to act when he “had reason to know” that offenses would be or
have been committed by his subordinates. The Rome Statute adopts the stricter
“should have known” standard, in which the commander has an affirmative
duty to keep himself informed of the activities of subordinates. Clearly, the
indubitable trend in international law is to place greater and heavier
responsibility on those who are in positions of command or control over
military and police personnel, the only forces with the most lethal weapons at
their disposal.
2. Command Responsibility as Binding Customary International Law
As early as 1949, the Philippine Supreme Court had the occasion to rule that
the Hague Convention, including the doctrine of command responsibility,
was adopted as a generally accepted principle of international law by the
Attested:
ATTY. ROGELIO A. VINLUAN
General Counsel
Dear Mr Casimiro
6. Inconsistent reports
According to the information received by the AHRC, the police
seizure report states that Catalan was “not around” when the
initial search was conducted. But the January 12 press release
acknowledges that the operation resulted in the “wounding of
Romeo Catalan”. Furthermore, it states that he is now “facing
charges for illegal possession of firearms and armed resistance”.
However, Catalan has never received any summons informing
him of these or other charges. If charges have been laid, why
has the respondent not been informed?
The Asian Human Rights Commission stands by our original
demand that you order an impartial and independent
investigation into this case and see its findings submitted to a
judicial authority. It furthermore calls upon you to take
disciplinary action against Chief Superintendent Geary Barias
for his premature public defence of his subordinates, which
amounts to a completely unacceptable breach of police conduct,
and demands that his statement be retracted and an apology
issued.
The unrelenting extrajudicial killings in the Philippines and
lack of effective independent investigations where police are
allegedly to have been involved are a cause for growing
international alarm. Greater scrutiny is leading to more and more
questions about the actual intentions of the authorities to
address these killings. Your action is needed to prevent
whitewashing and ensure that the families of victims, survivors
and witnesses obtain the justice that they deserve, as well as to
protect the credibility and reputation of your agency and the
government of the Philippines.
Yours sincerely
Basil Fernando
Executive Director
Asian Human Rights Commission
[Note: Since this letter was published the AHRC was made aware
that Chief Superintendent Geary Barias is now head of Task Force
Usig, the unit responsible for investigating alleged extrajudicial
killings.]
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