HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

7 Negros Farmers Nabbed at Checkpoint; 1 Missing

Can people be arrested for no apparent reason? The answer is yes in Negros. Which then leads one to ask: Does this already portends of things to come, especially now that the Arroyo administration has adopted a “calibrated preemptive response” to mass actions?

BY KARL G. OMBION AND RANIE AZUE
Bulatlat

KABANKALAN CITY, Negros Occidental – Is a massive crackdown on anti-government groups already in the offing?

Seven peasant leaders belonging to the Negros chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP or Peasant Movement of the Philippines) in Negros and the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) in central Philippines were arrested at an army checkpoint in Barangay (village) Oringao here at around 9:30 p.m. last Sept. 30.

Arrested were Moreto Jonson, Dionisio Dionson, Charity Amaca and Abraham Villanueva and his wife Marilou. The identity of two others is still unknown as of press time.

Fred Cana, a member the national council of the human rights organization Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights), said the seven peasant leaders came from a meeting with farmers in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental and were on their way to another meeting with peasant groups in Kabankalan. They were stopped on a highway in Oringao by combined forces of the 12^th Infantry Battalion (IB) and the 61^st IB of the Philippine Army.

Cana told Bulatlat that the seven peasant leaders were forced at gunpoint to step out of their vehicle and were brought to the 61^st IB Bravo company detachment in Barangay Camingawan.

Jonson, a 58-year old peasant leader who has rheumatic asthma, was separated from his six companions by bonnet-wearing men and transferred to an undisclosed place. As of press time, his whereabouts is still unknown.

The KMP, accompanied by the victims’ relatives and legal counsel Ben Ramos, went to the detachment last Oct. 1 to ask what happened. Cana said that only Ramos was allowed to talk to Amaca and the Villanueva couple.

The six detainees were then transferred that same morning to the headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Kabankalan.

Ramos said that as of press time, the PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) refuse to release the six detainees even if no charges have been filed against them, saying that they are still “awaiting orders from the 303^rd Brigade.” They also denied that Jonson is in their custody.

The AFP also claimed that the seven peasant leaders, at the time of their arrest last Sept. 30, had in their possession two .45 caliber pistols. Dionson, on the other hand, was accused as a top cadre of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The KMP stressed that the weapons were obviously planted and that Dionson is not a CPP member.

Ramos quoted Lt. Sandro Labrador, commanding officer of the team that arrested the seven peasant leaders, as saying that the team that brought Jonson to an undisclosed place are also military troopers.

Cana told Bulatlat that the illegal arrest of the seven peasant leaders could already be a part of the massive crackdown carried out by the Macapagal-Arroyo regime against the militant mass movement and the opposition all over the country. Bulatlat

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