HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

‘My brother is not a criminal’
Even in Prison, Mindoro's Alleged Top NPA Cadre Serves Others

His military captors call him a “criminal.” But even inside prison, the person who is said to be a prized catch for being the alleged top leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) tries to continue his life-long devotion that a real criminal won’t dare do: serving others.

BY DENNIS ESPADA
Bulatlat 

On weekends, he conducts training to future members of the jail health team that he will help form soon.

"In case I don't come out of this (imprisonment) alive, I make it a point that I always serve the people to the best of my abilities," he says.

“Eddik”

Who is Eduardo Serrano? 

Mindoro military authorities say “Eddik” is Rogelio Villanueva or Ka (short for comrade) Makling, the Mindoro Island’s top NPA cadre. Arrested by military intelligence agents in broad daylight last May 2 at a bus terminal in Lipa City, Batangas, Serrano was charged with multiple murder, kidnap-for-ransom and other common crimes.  

Serrano, now 51, is an agriculturist by profession. Growing up in Naga City, Camarines Sur province, he went to the National University in Manila and later to the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB), Laguna as a young scholar. 

The First Quarter Storm of 1970 saw Serrano as an active militant student leader of UPLB, where he was vice-chair of Kabataang Makabayan's (KM or Patriotic Youth) local chapter and chair of the UP Sarong Banggi, a Bicol fraternal club. 

Along with thousands of fellow activists, he went underground shortly after Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972, helping organize peasants in his home province. The following year, he returned to UPLB to resume his studies and organizing work in the campus amidst a hostile atmosphere. 

After finishing a degree in BS Agriculture, Serrano worked as a researcher at the Agricultural Credit Cooperative Institute (ACCI) in Los Baños and farm manager of the Dairy Training and Research Institute (DTRI) in Calauan, Laguna. Later, he obtained a scholarship program that sent him to Copenhagen, Denmark from 1978 to 1979 for post-graduate studies in animal science. By then, he was already bound for a promising career. 

Political repression

He took a different path, instead. His father, who was in government, became a victim of Marcos’ political repression. In 1981, Eddik himself decided to quit government service. He went to the countryside to become a fulltime cadre of the revolutionary movement for 23 years, undertaking efforts to empower the workers, peasants and Mangyan tribal communities. 

In a statement last May, the communist-led National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said that Serrano was abducted by military agents following his participation in consultations conducted by the NDFP's peace negotiating panel in connection with the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement for Respect on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). 

Message from prison 

In a forum held last Sept. 11 at the Community Education Center's conference hall in UPLB attended by alumni and professionals, Serrano’s personal account of his arrest and prison ordeal was read.

"Today,” his statement entitled ‘Message to Free All Political Prisoners’ said, “I have passed the fourth month in captivity. I was pinned down by large 'animals,' hogtied with masking tape and hauled to a lion's den in the headquarters of IG-ISU (Intelligence Group-Intelligence Service Unit) in Fort Bonifacio by noontime of May 2. Due to the commotion created by my abduction in Lipa City, the military was forced to present us to the media the following day as their 'prized catch.' But unfortunately for me, I was held incommunicado for the next ten days wherein the military and police interrogators vainly tried to extract tactical information before they were obliged by the court to turn me in. All throughout the trips which brought me to different camps, I'd been blindfolded, handcuffed and intimidated to make me run for my life. 

"Though blindfolded, I managed to talk with my captors directly. They sensed that I never fear danger on my life or limb. They also knew that if something evil happened to me, someone would surely answer for such irresponsibility. I protested every infraction on my basic human rights. I was alone and always at their mercy during these grueling days... 

"They concocted various 'intelligence' data to make it appear that I will be rescued by the New People's Army (NPA) 'dead or alive' and maybe 'rain or shine.' When this flopped, the commander himself told me, as if to sympathize, that the NPAs were out to liquidate me totally. Thus I violently retorted: 'isang malaking kalokohan iyan!’ (that's a big lie). I told him that the NPA is a principled and disciplined organization. This infuriated him and he never came back although other officers took turns in confronting me using the soft and hard touches alternately. This happened during my first two months in detention. But the constant threat to my life always hang in the air. There are friends around here who have observed unnecessary troop movements and overheard conversations pertaining to the eventual physical elimination of myself. 

"Just recently, a battalion commander with six of his men all in civilian attire brought a lady ‘rebel returnee’ to confront me about the death of her brother way back in May 2002. The officer blatantly told me that if the lady ‘rebel returnee’ had a gun, she could have shot me right away due to the hatred in her. That's why I protested this incident to the provincial warden and some security measures were instituted to prevent such occurrence. Yes, elements of the 204th Brigade have the upper hand here. There is a defacto Martial Law in Mindoro island through the rule of the military. So many killings, atrocities and intimidations by them on the civilian populace remain unsolved to date." 

After four months in detention at the Mindoro Oriental Provincial Jail (OMPJ) in Calapan City, Serrano manages to fight his physical predicament and melancholy through daily exercise and reading newspapers, magazines and books. 

Calls for release

Meanwhile, human rights groups are clamoring for Serrano's release, saying his continued detention is a proof of unabated political repression and rising tyrannical rule in the country. 

"My brother is not a criminal," Malou Serrano, Ed's sister said. "His fervent wish is that he wouldn't stay longer in prison. I hope that he would be released with your help." 

Marie Hilao-Enriquez, secretary-general of the Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights (Karapatan), said "The government should not arrest anybody for his/her political beliefs. Political persecution should not happen in a country that is supposedly democratic." 

Rep. Joel Virador of Bayan Muna Partylist has asked the Macapagal-Arroyo government to consider Serrano a political case. He explained that his arrest was illegal because the arresting authorities violated Serrano's rights as a person accused of crimes guaranteed under the Philippine Constitution's Bill of Rights as well as the Hernandez Doctrine on rebellion crimes.

"I think the government should carry out the release as a goodwill measure for the resumption of the peace talks," Virador said. 

Last July 17, Karapatan and the Samahan ng mga Ex-detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (Selda), an organization of former political prisoners, launched a campaign to work for humane treatment of political detainees, now numbering 274 nationwide, and stop the criminalization of politically-motivated offenses. Bulatlat

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