Several peasant leaders and members from the affected villages were among the participants. Representatives of Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, GWP, Kabataan (Youth) Party-List and a few others from church groups also joined. Colonel Flores was present along with a number of soldiers.

Also among those who attended were representatives of Kabankalan Mayor Pedro Zayco, City Executive Secretary Garaygay, Councilor Efren Gaspillo of the Peace and Order Committee, Romeo Baldevarona, Ariel Marapo, and Arthur Abaja of the CHR, Ben Ramos, a lawyer from the Sept. 21 Movement, and Fred Caña of Karapatan-Negros. The Comelec-Kabankalan had no representative.

The dialogue, which lasted for more than an hour did not bring much clarification and resolution to the complaints of affected villages and party-list groups.

Gelle said the military just laughed off the dialogue. He added, “instead of clarifying issues and finding solutions to the problem, Colonel Flores accused party-list groups and community organizers of Mapisan of being sympathizers and fronts of the CPP-NPA.”

Colonel Flores even called the dialogue as an attempt to muddle the peaceful and harmonious relationship between the military and the people living in the hinterlands of Kabankalan City. This drew howls among those who attended, added Gelle.

Ramos on the other hand said that during the entire dialogue Colonel Flores had been “diverting the issues” and “not facing the accusations” being thrown by the people. Though the activists repeatedly explained that the people have the right to freedom of expression and to peaceably assemble as stated in the Art. 3, Sec. 4 of the Constitution, Colonel Flores dismissed them saying, “that is not the issue.”

Outright electioneering

Ramos said that the army should not be involved in the elections by directly or indirectly campaigning against or for an electoral party as stated in the Constitution.

He said the campaign of the Army in the rural areas, influencing people not to patronize particular party-list groups that are tagged as “legal fronts of the CPP-NPA”, is an outright indication that they are “indirectly campaigning” against these electoral groups.

Gelle expressed apprehension that there is a pattern of harassment and intimidation being applied by the military to make sure that progressive party list groups will not get votes from their strong mass base around the province particularly the southern part of Negros Occidental.

Insult to the people

Seigfred Deduro, Bayan Muna vice president for Visayas said that what the Army had said is an outright insult to the party-list groups and to the people at large. He said that the people are not stupid to be swayed by mere black propaganda.

Deduro further said Bayan Muna would file charges against the 61st IB if they should continue to harass and persuade the people not to patronize particular party-list organizations.

He said that the presence of the army in the populated areas is an indication that a “de facto” martial law exists in the country now.

CHR to conduct investigation

Baldevarona on the other hand agreed that the Army should not be designated in thickly populated areas such as health centers and barangay halls even if the barangay captains consent to their deployment in such places.

Ariel Marapo, also of the CHR-Negros Occidental, agreed with Baldevarona and promised to conduct an investigation on the alleged human rights violations committed by members of the army’s SOT in the hinterlands of Kabankalan. Marapo explained that it is against the law for the military to occupy barangay halls, chapels and health clinics since this could hamper services to villagers.

CHR will coordinate with the local government of Kabankalan to see to it that the problems will be addressed and to prevent any escalation of violence in the affected villages, said Marapo.

Comelec “inutile”

Alejandro Deoma, Bayan Muna provincial chairman said that they have already filed complaints with the Comelec but the latter has not taken action yet and does not seem to show interest in these violations.

Even the rampant vote buying in the region, profileration of illegal campaign materials and their illegal posting outside of Comelec-designated areas, are not checked by the poll body.

He also slammed Comelec for not taking action on the release by Bacolod police of two Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) operatives who were caught last week with firearms in a check point in the city, justifying their act as part of “confidence-building measures” under the RPA-ABB and GRP peace agreement.

“Despite the clear violations of Comelec gun ban, the Comelec local officers were not bothered by the police action; the Comelec and the police are liable for this violative act” Deoma said.

Deoma said that the integrity and credibility of the Comelec is at stake because “it is not actually performing its supposed functions” of taking the lead in investigating, exposing, prosecuting the election violators and fixers, guaranteeing the security of ballots and election returns, eliminating opportunities for cheating throughout the process of voting, counting, and canvassing of votes, and ensuring the strict neutrality and non-interference of military and police forces in the election process.

“The massive fraud that took place in the elections 2004 is very likely to be repeated in the forthcoming elections with Comelec not taking effective measures to correct past violations,” Deona said. (Bulatlat.com)

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