This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 6, March 11-17, 2007
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Soldiers Linked to Attempted
Abduction in Pampanga At
about 10 pm on February 26, four Armalite-wielding men wearing ski masks
forcibly entered the home of Eduardo Macapagal, 54, and tried to take him away
at gunpoint. The soldiers failed to take Macapagal with them after his family
refused to let go of him. “This is another clear proof that the military is
behind the killings and abductions,” said Joseph Canlas, Anakpawis (Toiling
Masses) party-list Central Luzon coordinator. BY
ABNER BOLOS MASANTOL, PAMPANGA (64 km.
north of Manila) The vehicle that armed men in ski masks used in an attempt to
abduct a fishpond operator in Barangay (village) Bulaus, Masantol, Pampanga may
yet again point to soldiers as the culprits. At about 10 pm on February
26, four Armalite-wielding men wearing ski masks forcibly entered the home of
Eduardo Macapagal, 54, and tried to take him away at gunpoint. The assailants relented and
left after issuing death threats when Macapagal’s family held on to him and
refused to let him go. The vehicle the armed men
used was traced to be a patrol vehicle of the village council of Barangay
Consuelo, Macabebe, Pampanga which was borrowed by a certain Army Sgt.
Lumasac on that day and was returned the day after. In bed In a statement to the
police, Macapagal said that he was already in bed when he heard persons kicking
the gate of his yard to force it open and later also the door of the house. He said when the assailants
were unable to forcibly open the door to his house, his son, Eduardo Jr. who
looked out a window to check the commotion was forced at gunpoint to open the
door. He said when the armed saw
him, they grabbed him and forced him to kneel with their rifles pointed at his
head and both sides of his body. The assailants, who wore fatigues and ski
masks, then asked him to produce a gun which Macapagal denied having. He said the assailants
tried to take him with them but his family held on to him until the armed men
relented. “Dyan ka lang babalikan
ka namin. Madugong pagbabalk,” (Stay put, we will be back for you. Next time
it will be bloody.) Macapagal quoted the armed men as saying. Patrol vehicle The younger Macapagal, 18,
a tricycle driver, told police he followed the armed men when they left and saw
that they boarded a yellow patrol vehicle with markings identifying it as a
vehicle of Barangay Consuelo, Macabebe, Pampanga. Ernesto Perez, 54, village
head of Consuelo told police that the patrol vehicle owned by the village
council was borrowed by a certain Sgt. Lumasac at noon of February 26. He
identified Lumasac as a soldier who is deployed in their village. Perez said Lumasac told him
he needed to borrow the vehicle because he will go to Barangay Palimpe in
Masantol Pampanga. Perez said the vehicle was returned by Lumasac the day after
the failed abduction. Macabebe and Masantol are adjoining towns. The armed men came back one
week later. A police investigation report dated March 5 said Macapagal sought
police assistance in the early evening of March 4 because two armed men in
civilian clothes were seen casing their residence. The armed men, however, had
left when the police arrived. Military as culprits “This is another clear
proof that the military is behind the killings and abductions. We have
testimonial and physical evidence that soldiers deployed in Macabebe forcibly
entered the home of a resident in Masantol and tried to snatch him,” Joseph
Canlas, Anak Pawis party Central Luzon coordinator told GLNS. He said the government
should investigate at once the army unit stationed in Barangay Consuelo,
Macabebe if it is at all serious in preventing more killings and abductions. “The government must stop
its Oplan Bantay Laya counter-insurgency program because civilians continue to
be victimized. The military should pull-out from the communities to restore
normalcy in the lives of people who have been terrorized for so long,” Canlas
said. Civilian victims Published reports and
documentation from Karapatan- Central Luzon show that are 127 civilian victims
of extra-judicial executions and 59 victims of enforced disappearance in Central
Luzon since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took office in 2001 up to the
present. Sixty-six per cent of the
killings and 80 per cent of the abductions occurred from September 2005 to
November 2006, the period when retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan was commander
of the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Infantry Division that covers
the seven provinces of Central Luzon. In Pampanga province, 23
civilians have so far been killed and six were abducted and remained missing,
according to records of Karapatan-Central Luzon. Canlas, who is also
chairperson of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL, Central Luzon
Peasant Alliance) is himself a victim of harassment and surveillance. He told GLNS he had to take
special precautions to evade military and government agents who are constantly
on his tail. Arroyo vowed to crush the
38-year old communist insurgency before her term ends in 2010. But she has come
under fire from local human rights groups and the international community for
her failure to investigate and put an end to the killings which her critics say
are being done by government security forces. GLNS/posted by Bulatlat © 2007 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
Gitnang Luzon News Service
Posted by Bulatlat