HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
CL: From Rice Fields into
'Killing Fields'?
8 political killings
reported since September
Eight
politically-motivated killings have been reported in Central Luzon in just
over a month. The cases have been reported in the aftermath of the
assignment of Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan as commander of the 7th Infantry
Battalion of the Philippine Army based in Fort Magsaysay, Palayan City in
Nueva Ecija, Central Luzon.
BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat
Eight
politically-motivated killings have been reported in Central Luzon in just
over a month. The cases have been reported in the aftermath of the
assignment of Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan as commander of the 7th Infantry
Battalion of the Philippine Army based in Fort Magsaysay, Palayan City in
Nueva Ecija, Central Luzon.
Human rights groups
fear that with Palparan at the helm of the military in the region, a
crackdown has been put in place – similar to the campaigns of suppression
that had happened in Mindoro and
Eastern Visayas where the
controversial general spent long stints as Army commander. Upon his
assignment in Eastern Visayas in February this year, he vowed to stop the
communist rebellion in six months.
The general has been
accused by rights watchdogs and peasant organizations as the "Butcher of
Mindoro." He has also been investigated by the justice department,
Commission on Human Rights and Congress.
"Terror" in four provinces
Tarlac
The latest victim was
Rolando Mariano, 53, leader of the Anakpawis (toiling masses) party-list
chapter in Gerona, Tarlac (138 kms north f Manila). He was also the
municipal coordinator of Bayan Muna (People First) in Victoria, Tarlac
(141 kms from Manila) and former head of the Tarlac Electric Cooperative 1
(Tarelco) Employees Union.
Mariano was shot at 9
a.m. last Oct. 7 by three unidentified men on a motorcycle while on his
way to the Tarelco 1 field office in Poblacion,
Victoria, Tarlac. Mariano was on
board the company vehicle with four others.
According to an
Anakpawis statement, Mariano sustained seven bullet wounds – five on the
chest, two on the back. He died on the spot but his body was still brought
to the Talon General Hospital in Tarlac
City. Fact-finding investigations
on Mariano's death are ongoing, human rights workers from Karapatan-Tarlac
reported.
Nueva Ecija
In Nueva Ecija, three
leaders have also been killed.
Last Sept. 12, Reiner
"Alvin" Cusio, 33, was abducted by armed men in Guimba (153 kms north of
Manila). He was the chair of the Ugnayan ng Magsasaka ng Pasong lntsik and
San Rafael (Umagpas, Association of Farmers in Pasong Intsik and San
Rafael), a local affiliate of the Alyansa ng Magsasaka sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL,
Alliance of Farmers in Central Luzon). These farmers, including Cusio, are
beneficiaries and petitioners of Hacienda Gabaldon in Barangay (village)
Pasong Intsik.
Witnesses said Cusio
was last seen being forced by armed men to enter a dirty white, Revo-type
vehicle with plate number WLT 753. His body was found the following day in
Barangay (village) Kalikid,
Cabanatuan City (115 kms north of
Manila).
Residents also
reported that after the 71st Infantry Batallion's (IB) camp under Lt.
Virgilio Viterbo was set up in Pasong Intsik, the soldiers allegedly
started harassing the farmers of Barangays Manggang Marikit, Bagong Baryo
and Yuson (Mambuyo). The farmers were also beneficiaries of the said
hacienda.
Three weeks later,
Bayan Muna local leader Celia Esteban, 54, was abducted allegedly by
soldiers last Oct. 2 at around 7 p.m. from her residence in Barangay
Lennec, Guimba, also in Nueva Ecija.
Ranalyn, 15, the
victim's daughter, said that her mother was resting in their house after
an ulcer attack on the night of Oct. 2 when abducted by a man and a woman
who pretended to be relatives. Esteban was dragged out of the house and
forced to enter a light blue van with plate number WKI 059.
Esteban's relatives
also noted that soldiers of the 71st IB visited her house four times last
September, accusing her of being on the military's Order of Battle. The
71st IB patrols Guimba and Cuyapo towns as part of their Reengineered
Special Operations Team (RSOT) program, the relatives said.
Her body was found
only last Oct. 6 in neighboring Tarlac province.
At around 9:45 p.m.
on the same day of Esteban's abduction, Anakpawis municipal coordinator
Armando Javier, 36, was shot dead inside his home in Barangay Sta. Clara,
Cuyapo, less than a kilometer away from Guimba. He sustained nine gunshot
wounds.
The walls and some
houses in Guimba were also painted with, "Kung ikaw ay supporter ng NPA,
ikaw na ang susunod (If you are a supporter of the NPA, you are already
next.)
Bataan
Jose Levimar Rieza, a
resident of Bgy. Tala Orani Bulacan was killed by still unidentified
assassins last Sept. 24. According to the autopsy report, Rieza sustained
11 shots from a .45 caliber pistol.
A few days before his
death, soldiers had taken pictures of Rieza, who was then working in the
Jing Co farm. They chided him, "Ikaw nga ang gustong-gusto kong kunan ng
picture (you are the one whose picture I really like to take)." The
soldiers also took pictures of his wife who was there at that time.
On Sept. 27 in nearby
Barangay Pag-asa of the same town, Mario Tuvera was arrested allegedly by
soldiers belonging to the 24th IB. His 12-year old son who was with him
scavenging at that time saw his arrest. He was found dead two days later
in a nearby dam.
A fact-finding
mission was organized by the Central Luzon chapter of Karapatan (Alliance
for the Advancement of Peoples' Rights) to investigate the twin killings.
The mission, however, did not expect that another killing was about to
take place.
On Oct. 1, tricycle
driver Edmer Rufino was shot dead allegedly again by soldiers. He was
reportedly killed after a heated argument with a soldier allegedly for
driving the pick-up vehicle of the fact-finding mission team.
Bulacan
Last Sept. 13,
Leodegario Punzal, leader of Anakpawis Partylist in Norzagaray, Bulacan
was killed by armed men while working on his shop. Eleven days earlier,
20-year old Ferdinand Viola, a tricycle driver, of Gulod Pinaod, San
Ildefonso, Bulacan (66 kms from Manila), was wounded in a crossfire
between armed groups in Barangay Maasim of the same town.
Viola, who managed to
run away from the encounter, was shot in the back, however. He was brought
to the San Miguel Emergency Hospital for treatment, where he was arrested
by the police even without a warrant.
After a murder case
was filed against him, Viola was taken to the Bulacan provincial jail
where he is currently detained.
Pampanga
Meanwhile, 60-year
old Perla Rodriguez, farmer, of Barangay Divisoria, Mexico, Pampanga, and
her 33-year old daughter Jacqueyn were allegedly harassed and threatened
by four soldiers of the 69th IB last Sept. 22.
Jacqueyn said the
military suspected her mother of being a member of the NPA. Perla's
peasant organization, Aguman daring Maglalautang Capampangan (AMC or
Alliance of Kapampangan Farmers), was also suspected to have links with
the NPA.
From rice fields to killing fields
In a privilege speech
last Oct. 4, Anakpawis Party-List Rep. Rafael Mariano condemned the spate
of killings, saying "Central Luzon's rice fields have been turned into
killing fields!"
Mariano, a Novo
Ecijano farmer, held Palparan responsible for these killings and asked for
his removal from the region, an investigation of the cases and his
prosecution.
Meanwhile, Joseph
Canlas, Alyansa ng Mgabubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL) chair and Anakpawis
regional coordinator, told Bulatlat that the "terror" that is being felt
in their region at present is the same pattern of the horror experienced
by the people in the Southern Tagalog and
Eastern Visayas
regions where Palparan was previously assigned.
Canlas also
criticized Palparan's denial of being responsible for the killings and
other human rights violations. He said that aside from the patterns of
killings and abductions, these "terrors" happen in every place under
Palparan's leadership.
Although living in
fear, Canlas said that nothing can stop them from fighting for justice.
Church and rights
groups and other organizations are planning to hold a forum, a dialog with
the military and protest actions in the days ahead. Bulatlat
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