HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

19 years after the Lupao Massacre:
Rights Violations Continue in Lupao

February 10, 1987. Seventeen civilians, including six children and two elderly, were killed by government troops in Lupao, Nueva Ecija.  In 1989, the 24 soldiers allegedly involved in the massacre were acquitted by a military court. Nineteen years later, the human rights situation in Lupao and in the whole province of Nueva Ecija remains gruesome. 

BY EMILY VITAL

Bulatlat

February 10, 1987. Seventeen civilians, including six children and two elderly were killed by government troops in Lupao, Nueva Ecija.  In 1989, the 24 soldiers allegedly involved in the massacre were acquitted by the military court.

Nineteen years later, the human rights situation in Lupao and in the whole province of Nueva Ecija remains gruesome. 

From January 2005 to January 2006, human rights group Karapatan-NE (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights-Nueva Ecija) documented two cases of forced disappearance, 11 cases of summary execution, six cases of abduction and killing, two cases of frustrated murder. Many more cases of illegal arrest, illegal detention, coercion and torture were recorded. Three of those killed were from Lupao. 

On January 19, Elpidio Gante, a tricycle driver from Namulandayan village, was killed by three unidentified men.

Another civilian, Roman Friolo, was killed on Sept. 25, 2005 in his house in Cordero village. Based on Karapatan-NE accounts, combined elements of the Army’s 71^st Infantry Batallion (IB), 308^th Provincial Mobile Group-Philippine National Police (PMG-PNP) and 309^th PMG indiscriminately fired at Friolo's house.

Barely two months after the incident, on Nov. 14, 2005, Clarita Ramirez, a government employee and Bayan Muna (People First) municipal coordinator, was killed by unidentified men.

Counter-insurgency?

All these incidents, if one is to believe the military's claim, are part of a counter-insurgency campaign.

On Dec. 7 last year, combined elements of the 48^th and 71^st IB and the 7^th Infantry Division (ID) arrived in San Isidro village.  They had with them a list of suspected NPA members.  They searched houses without warrants and even stole some of the victims' belongings, villagers said. 

Between Jan. 22 and 24, four separate incidents of harassment and coercion were recorded in Parista and Balbalungao villages.  The victims were Mario Florendo, Kenedy Caligtan, Shirley Caligtan and Zaldy Fariñas.  Three of them are Bayan Muna members.  The perpetrators were identified as elements of the 48^th IB.

In an interview, Betty Perido, secretary general of Karapatan-NE and pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) narrated Kenedy's plight in the hands of the military.  "Tinutukan daw siya ng kalibre .45. Inipit din sa mga daliri niya ang mga bala.  Binuhusan din ng tubig" (A .45 calibre pistol was pointed at him.  Bullets were placed in between his fingers. He was also subjected to water cure.)

Perido shared a common experience of the victims of abduction and torture, "May pinapapirmahang papel. Hindi nila alam kung ano ang nakasulat. Para makauwi na, pumipirma sila" (They were coerced to sign a paper.  They didn’t know what was written on it. They agreed to sign just so they would be allowed to go home.)

Perido said the military presented their order of battle (OB) in public meetings. Listed were members of party list groups and progressive organizations. 

"Pinapaamin nila ang mga tao bilang kasapi o tagasuporta ng NPA. Kung hindi, baka raw magaya sila kay Celia” (They were forced to admit to being NPA members, under threat of suffering Celia’s fate), Perido related.

Celia is Priscilla Esteban, a farmworker and Bayan Muna leader, who was abducted by six men believed to be soldiers from the 71^st IB in October last year. Her body, hogtied, was found with gunshot wounds and stab wounds. Her skull was also shattered.

Palparan

Perido noted the rise in the number of human rights violations in the province since Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. became the commanding officer of the 7^th Infantry Division based in Ft. Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija.

Palparan's stints as commanding officer of units in Southern Tagalog and Eastern Visayas were characterized by grave human rights violations, his critics say.

Oplan Bantay Laya

In a statement, Karapatan expressed grave concern over the escalation of human rights violations in Central Luzon and in other parts of the country.

"The Oplan Bantay Laya, the counter-insurgency program of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration, has also targeted legal democratic organizations in a desperate bid to solve the raging armed conflict in the country through military means," Karapatan stated.

In 2005 alone, 165 individuals were summarily executed, based on Karapatan’s records. None of the cases have been investigated nor solved. Bulatlat

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