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Reign of Terror in Northern Negros, Farmer-Activist Tortured, Slain BY KARL G. OMBION Alano Clerigo was a member of a local farmers’ organization affiliated with the Kilusang Mambubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP or Peasant Movement of the Philippines) Warlito Clerigo, brother of Alano, believed that the Citizen Armed Forces Geographjical Unit (CAFGU) and the military were responsible for the torture and killing of his brother. He said that he saw a CAFGU member identified as a certain Silvestre Abiso accompanied by 16 unidentified Army elements forcing Clerigo to go with them in the afternoon of Oct. 10 to a farm nearby. Warlito said that the team insisted that they just wanted to invite Alano for some questioning on his supposed activities as the alleged courier of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the area. He said he did not know anymore where they brought his brother after they took him from their house. Fact-finding mission The Karapatan probe revealed that Alano was tending his cow near his home at Sitio (sub-village) Lagoc, when two armed men picked him up at around 4:00 p.m. on Oct. 10, 2007. One of the armed men was identified as Silvestre Abiso, a Special CAFGU Active Auxillary member in Calatrava accompanied by 16 military men. They brought Alano to an undisclosed place, the Karapatan fact-finding report stated. His brother, Warlito (including two neighbors) saw the incident, but did not inform his family thinking that he will not be harmed. Alano however failed to return home, and on the next day, Oct. 11, his family and some neighbors started to trace his whereabouts. While they were searching in a nearby sugar cane field, 17 military men, including Abiso, suddenly came out of the field and told them to talk about the matter to Barangay (village) Captain Ernesto Baynosa. Later some of the people in the barangay found a shallow grave in a nearby place where a man’s corpse was buried. When called to confirm, Warlito came and positively identified the remains as those of his brother. When they checked on Alano’s body, they found several torture marks. Parts of his body had melted plastic stuck on them, his mouth was filled with plastic, his head was covered with a plastic bag, his fingers were broken, and his sex organ was cut off. Warlito said he blames no other person but the CAFGU and the military for his brother’s death. “They were the ones who were with my brother when they took him from our house,” he said. He also said that his brother was a farmer and not a member of the NPA. Even barangay officials confirmed that Alano was a known farmer in the community, and a man “who had no enemies.” The family strongly suspects that Alano was tortured by the military and that he was killed to sow fear among the people in Brgy. Menchaca. Witnesses also testified that military operations are ongoing, and the presence of government soldiers causes fear among the people, particularly their children who are becoming afraid of even attending school. Bayan-Negros secretary-general Felipe Gelle said that the military is so desperate to make good scores against the NPAs but often fails and vents its ire on the innocent and unarmed civilians. “They have been doing this everywhere; yet they are so callous (and they) deny their criminal acts,” he said. “But this time, they can’t get away from their criminal accountability in this gruesome death of Clerigo because there are witnesses, and no less than the victim’s brother is one of them,” Gelle added. Meanwhile, Calatrava Police Commander Insp. Danilo Zuniega said that they have already started their own investigation. He also advised the victim’s family to coordinate with him in preparing their evidences and witnesses and filing of appropriate charges. Maj. Nathaniel Villasor, civil military operations head of the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade has not made any denial or affirmation of the allegations. He has only issued a statement that they have yet to get information from the concerned field commanders. Reign of terror Before Clerigo, farmer Rodrigo Siacor, Sitio Macatagal, Barangay Cambayubo, Calatrava was murdered on Aug. 8 allegedly by military elements. On Oct.13, National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) member Antonio Mercado of Brgy. Salamanca, Toboso, was also murdered allegedly by a military death squad. The ESTOCASA (Escalante, Toboso, Calatrava, San Carlos) areas in northern Negros have been placed since last year under the operational command of the Task Force North under Lt. Col. Felicisimo Budiongan, which supervises the operations of the 12th Infantry Battalion, (known as the handler of the CAFGUs), the 32nd Reconnaisance Company, some units of the 11th Infantry Battalion, and some units of the 2nd Scout Rangers Company. These areas have been the scenes of fierce encounters between the military troopers and the NPA units in recent months. Gelle said that the 303rd Infantry Brigade is imposing a “reign of terror” in ESTOCASA. Said Gelle: “It is victimizing the innocent civilians and ordinary farmers and sugar workers in the name of achieving its target to destroy the NPA’s guerrilla fronts in the said areas,” Gelle said. “The brutal murder of Clerigo was intended to sow terror” among the residents and nearby communities. Such ‘dirty war tactics’ (are) reflective of the tactics used by Gen. Jovito Palparan in Mindoro, Leyte and in Central Luzon. “The denials of the Army officials fit well into the word that used by UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston as ‘cynical attempt to displace responsibility.’ Yet, positive identification by the witness points to the Philippine Army as the culprits of the brutal murder.” Bayan-Negros believes that the series of murders of local members of the NFSW and KMP members in Toboso and Calatrava are among the “dirty tactics” of the Philippine Army in achieving its goal of destroying the so-called guerilla fronts of the NPA. However, it is not the guerilla fronts that are destroyed but the lives of the innocent civilians and innocent families, Bayan-Negros argues. Bayan-Negros noted that after the series of murders in the Silay-Manapla areas, the killings are now taking place in ESTOCASA, which the Philippine Army marked as a “WIN AREA” of its counter-insurgency program. Gelle urged immediate action to prosecute the perpetrators of the brutal murder, to give justice to the victims, and to put a stop to the “reign of terror” that could victimize more innocent civilians. He also urged local government officials not to condone the series of murders and human rights violations. “They have the particular role of protecting the witnesses to the crimes; extend financial and material assistance to the bereaved families,” Gelle said. “Silence and inaction on the part of the local government officials will only perpetuate these heinous crimes.” “We seek immediate end to the military operations in the areas and the ‘reign of terror in the countryside,” Gelle said. Bulatlat ( categories: )
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The family and kin of farmer Alano Clerigo, 34, demand justice for his killing. They blamed his military captors for his abduction-torture-murder.