For couple Librado and Martina Gallardo of Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija, the torture and the threats inflicted on them by soldiers of the 48th Infantry Battalion were so brutal they chose to commit suicide. Even the dead couple’s son, Jason, was beaten so bad for failing to produce the money and gun the soldiers insist that the his late parents were hiding that he vomited blood.
By ABNER BOLOS
Gitnang Luzon News Service
Posted by Bulatlat
For couple Librado and Martina Gallardo of Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija, the torture and the threats were so brutal they chose to commit suicide. They left nine children.
At about 9 a.m. October 11, they were found sprawled in the porch of their home in Barangay Conversion barely alive after ingesting Malathion, a powerful pesticide used to kill farm and house pests. The couple died while they were being brought to the hospital.
“Sinabi nila sa amin na hindi na nila kaya ang pagpapahirap sa kanila,” (They told us they could no longer endure the torture), Jason Gallardo, a son of the couple told THE Gitnang Luzon News Service (GLNS).
Jason said two hours before the suicide, his parents gathered the family in the kitchen and amid tears, told them of their decision, bade them farewell and asked them to leave the house.
Fact-finding mission
Jason, 18, his two brothers Rolando and Rico, and other relatives recounted the tragic event to a fact-finding mission to Barangay (village) Conversion organized by the United Methodist Church (UMC) last November 8-10.
The mission was led by the United Methodist Church (UMC) Manila Episcopal Area Bishop Solito Tuquero and district superintendents from the south, central and north Nueva Ecija UMC districts. The 61-page mission report was released to media last December 5.
News of the suicide has trickled from various sources in the past months but could not be confirmed until the mission was conducted. The 50-member contingent arrived at the remote village after more than eight hours of travel from Metro Manila mostly over rough mountain roads.
The report said around midnight of October 8, some 50 soldiers of the 48th Infantry Battalion led by Lt. Noel Ruezal arrived in Conversion and occupied the village hall. The following morning, Librado and his sister Macera Villajuan, 50, were taken from their homes by soldiers and brought to the village hall.
Interrogation
Villajuan said they were taken to separate rooms in the second floor of the building where they were blindfolded while being interrogated.
Villajuan said the soldiers accused her of supporting the New People’s Army (NPA) but she denied the accusation and defied the soldiers by removing her blindfold. She said she heard her brother crying in pain as he was being forced to admit that he was a member of the NPA.
The interrogation went on until 2 p.m. It was interrupted when the soldiers ordered Librado to attend a meeting with residents at the village plaza in front of the hall.
In the meeting the soldiers asked the residents to stop supporting the NPA and to surrender their firearms. The soldiers read a list of some 40 Bayan Muna (People First) members who they accused of being supporters or members of the NPA.
The Gallardo couple was in the list, as well as Eduardo Navalta Jr, the local UMC pastor. Librado is a lay leader of the congregation in the village. After the meeting, Librado was not allowed to go home and was interrogated until 8 p.m.
Rolando, 28, the oldest of the nine Gallardo siblings, said he was able to talk to his father on the night of October 9. He said his father looked weak and forlorn and complained that he was severely beaten in the chest, head and neck.
The elder Gallardo was also strangled and a plastic bag was put over his head to suffocate him. “Napatae siya sa salawal dahil sa sakit” (He defecated in his pants because of the pain), Rolando said.
‘They will kill us all’
Early in the next day, October 10, Librado and his wife were again taken by the soldiers, along with Villajuan and at least 10 other residents who were in the military’s list.
Librado was blindfolded inside his home before he was brought to an abandoned house in the village that the soldiers occupied and used as a detachment. His wife was with him but she was not allowed to go inside the house. Librado was tortured while blindfolded the whole day and was allowed to go home at around 9 p.m.
Rolando stayed in his father’s house that night. He said his father could hardly eat because his throat ached from blows on his neck and severe beatings on his chest and head. He said his father was repeatedly strangled and a plastic bag was put over his head.
The soldiers told Librado that he will be killed the next day if he did not surrender an M-16 rifle, P40, 000 ($805.31 at an exchange rate of $1=49.67) in cash and documents —matters that his father knew nothing about, Rolando said.
“Pag wala daw siyang inilabas at hindi umamin, pati kaming pamilya niya ay idadamay ng mga sundalo. Papatayin daw kami lahat,” (If he would not produce (the items) and confess, the soldiers would also go after his family. They will kill us all.) Rolando said quoting his father.
Maricel, 18, wife of Rico, one of the Gallardo siblings said the couple talked the whole night of October 10. Her home is just behind the elder Gallardo’s residence at the back of the UMC chapel in the village.
