On the killing of 27 members, disappearance of 4 others 
Is the Arroyo Gov’t Out To Silence Bayan Muna?
House Probe Wants Answers 

Two days before Congress adjourned last week, the House Committee on Civil, Political and Human Rights began investigating the killings of 27 Bayan Muna leaders and members, based on a resolution co-authored by 110 congressmen. "Is there an official policy of political repression against Bayan Muna?" asks the resolution. But another interesting question is, will Congress be able to serve justice to the victims or will the hearing go the way of other government investigations – to the trash bin?

By AMY V. PADILLA
Bulatlat.Com 

The hearing was based on House Resolution 538 and adopted as HR 246 by Bayan Muna Representatives Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran and Liza Maza.  

It sought to look into the "alarming rate of killings, enforced disappearances and other human rights violations being committed against members and supporters of Bayan Muna."      

But the main question posed by the resolution was, "Is there an official policy of political repression against Bayan Muna? "   

Ocampo, national president of the said party said,  "The onset of this hearing comes at a time when our party is under intensifying attacks ranging from outright killings to sustained black propaganda. Twenty-seven of our members at the grassroots level have been killed in the course of their Bayan Muna work. Four remain missing."      

"In almost all of these 100 documented cases, elements of the military and police have been pointed to as alleged perpetrators. Fifteen of the 27 cases occurred in Mindoro. It is this island-province alone which has been the site of sustained attacks against our members and supporters," he added. 

The militant solon also noted that when he delivered a privilege speech on the issue last April 17, the list of casualties was 17. Four months later, it jumped to 27.  

Members of various religious congregations and progressive groups trooped to the House public hearing last week which focused on three select cases in Mindoro. Succeeding hearings will tackle cases in Central Luzon and Mindanao.    

Testimonies 

Survivors and witnesses to the killing of Edilberto "Choy" Napoles, Jr.; the spouses Expedito and Manuela Albarillo; and the frustrated killing of Noel Villones -- all of Mindoro Oriental-- testified before the Committee. 

Napoles case 

Napoles, Bayan spokesperson and Bayan Muna coordinator in Mindoro Oriental, was shot several times until the assassins were sure he was dead last May 28, a few meters away from the Bayan Muna office in Calapan. His companion, Ruel Landicho, who survived a gunshot wound in the shoulder, identified their assailants as Larry Aparato and Aniano Flores. The perpetrators were alleged military assets of the 204^th IB in Mindoro under Col. Jovito Palparan Jr.   

Landicho said that earlier on last May 2, 204^th IB spokesperson M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario along with other soldiers made a surprise visit to their office. Hilario reportedly harassed and threatened Napoles, Landicho and others who were in the office at that time and were allegedly told to change their ways or "kung ano ang iniisip nýo ýan ang mangyayari sa inyo (whatever it is you are thinking will happen to you)."   

Mario Aldaba testified seeing the two assailants going to the Bayan Muna office shortly before Napoles and Landicho were fired at. 

Witness Lailani Madrigal testified having attended a meeting called by the 204^th IB where Hilario and company distributed leaflets branding Bayan Muna and other militant groups as communist fronts. The leaflets also contained the names of Napoles, Landicho and herself.   

Albarillo Case 

Meanwhile, the 12-year old daughter of slain couple Expedito and Manuela Albarillo testified on the gruesome slay of her parents. Adeliza was the lone companion of the couple prior to their killing. They were abducted and killed last April 8 in San Teodoro, Mindoro Oriental by men believed to be elements of the 16^th IB under Lt. Mamintal Dimapinto. Dimapinto earlier charged that Expedito was a commander of the New People’s Army (NPA).  

Wide-eyed and looking very frail, Adeliza recounted in a soft voice how in the morning of April 8, four men in military uniforms wearing bonnets and carrying long firearms entered their house and forcibly dragged her parents out of the house. Several other men all in camouflage military uniforms and wearing bonnets surrounded their house outside.   

Adeliza heard her mother shout, "Bakit ninyo kami ginaganito, maawa naman kayo sa amin (Why are you doing this to us, have pity on us)."  After the men left with her parents, she peeped from the window of their house and saw his father being tied and hit on the leg by one of the men using an armalite. She then ran to her grandparents' house and later heard several gunshots.   

Adeliza and her relatives went to the site where the couple were brought and discovered the bodies of Expedito and Manuela. Expedito sustained eight gunshot wounds, with one of his eyes gouged out. Manuela was shot right under her right eye which shattered her neck. "Nakita ko na lang silang patay at duguan na (I saw them dead and bloodied)," Adeliza narrated on the verge of crying. 

When asked by a solon what her parents’ assailants looked like, she replied, "Naka-damit sundalo po na naka-bonnet (They were wearing soldiers’ uniforms and bonnets)." 

Villones case 

The last case tackled was the frustrated killing of Noel Villones, a Bayan Muna official, last March 1. Villones testified that on the late afternoon that day, he was in the house of Engr. Rudy Dayanghirang, a sponsor in his wedding, in Roxas, Mindoro Oriental for a meeting called by Capt. Rodrigo Ilustrisimo of the 204^th IB.       

He said that on his way to Dayanghirang’s house, he saw two motorcycles parked in front of his neighbor with three men whom she remembered frequented their area and even the store his family was tending in the last weeks. The men had hand-held radios, cellular phones and what appeared to be guns tucked under their shirts. 

Villones said the motorcycles he saw bore no plates. One of the vehicles, he said, was often used by Ilustrisimo. 

Upon reaching Dayanghirang's place, a certain Captain Tiongco briefly met with Villones and left the place. He later got a call from his wife saying that she overheard one of the three men who frequented their place as saying they were going to his house.  

Fearing that he was being set up, Villones immediately told this to his godfather and left the place. He boarded his motorcycle and the three men he earlier saw repeatedly fired at him and gave chase. 

Villones sped away in his motorcycle even as a bullet hit his left hand. He ducked his head to avoid being hit in the head, and in the course of the chase, was again hit in his thigh and left side. When the pain became unbearable, he halted, rolled on the ground, and ran to the house of a friend.  

Villones was brought to the local hospital for first aid treatment and later to a Manila hospital for security reasons. He said that he and his family were forced to leave Mindoro due to constant threats to his family. His wife reported instances where several men with armalites stood in front of their house.  

Respondents 

Respondents included Col. Jovito Palparan Jr., commanding officer of the 204^th Infantry Battalion based in Mindoro, who recently alleged on national media that Bayan Muna is 'recruiting members for the NPA in Mindoro.' A video clip of  Palparan's press conference was presented to the House members as part of documentary evidence.  

Also present were M/Sgt. Hilario, Palparan's co-accused in the Napoles case; 2^nd Lt. Dimapinto, respondent to the Albarillo murder; and Lt. Ilustrisimo, respondent to the Villones case. AFP vice-chief Gen. Gregorio Camiling represented the military top brass. The military, through Palparan, issued blanket denials of their culpability in the incidents and maintained his charge that Bayan Muna and other groups are communist front organizations.   

Lambasting Palparan 

Bayan Muna secretary-general Nathanael Santiago lambasted Palparan for the latter's insinuation that Bayan Muna's projects in Mindoro were being diverted for the use of the NPA.

Santiago called the accusations malicious and irresponsible, saying Palparan is not “a gentleman officer." 

Mindoro governor Bartolome Marasigan sent a representative who denied charges both by militant groups and several House members that they were helpless in addressing the killings.  

House members present, apart from the three authors of the resolution, were human rights committee chair Loretta Ann Rosales, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, Eduardo Zialcita, Krisel Lagman-Luistro and Apolinario Lozada, Jr.    

The Committee ruled that the witnesses be placed under a protection program. Rosales also admonished Palparan for trying to secure the attendance list of all those present in the said hearing. 

Outside the gates of Congress, church groups and progressive organizations held a protest action denouncing the attacks against Bayan Muna. A six-by-six military truck full of soldiers, which was part of the AFP's escort, stood guard. 

Subsequent hearings on the issue are expected to be calendared when session resumes on Sept. 30. Bulatlat.com   

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