“There is something I must do. I should speak for the victims – the disappeared, tortured and killed – and expose how the government treats those who they perceive as enemies.”
BY EMILY VITAL
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 18, June 10-16, 2007
Camp Panteleon Garcia, Imus, Cavite (23 km. south of Manila) —Pastor Berlin Guerrero recounted his ordeal in the hands of what he calls “lawless enforcers” when friends and colleagues from the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and different people’s organizations visited him, June 6.
The Arrest
Guerrero was abducted May 27 in Biñan, Laguna.
Aboard a tricycle, Guerrero, his wife and children were on their way home when armed men blocked them. One of the men said, upon seeing the pastor, “Positive. Positive. Ito na ‘yon.” (He is the one.)
Another one said, “Inaaresto kita. Mayroon kaming arrest warrant.” (I am arresting you. We have a warrant of arrest.) Guerrero asked for the warrant but the men refused to present it. The man insisted he is Peter Aquino. Guerrero replied, “I don’t know him. Who is he?”
He recalled, “Naisalya ako sa van, pinosasan. Hinampas ng bote ng mineral water. Sinusuntok sa tagiliran.” (I was forcefully pushed inside the van, and handcuffed. They hit me with a bottle of mineral water…they punched me repeatedly on the side.)
They traveled for about 45 minutes to an hour.
Torture
Interrogation followed.
Guerrero continued, “Nilagyan ng plastic ang ulo ko. Sa tuwing may tinatanong, hinihigpitan. Panay suntok…Ginawang punching bag ang ulo ko.” (They covered my head with a plastic bag. Every time they asked something, they tightened it…. They beat me no end…They made my head a punching bag.)
They also kept on beating him with hard but not blunt objects, he said. He said his tormentors’ hands were covered with padding.
He said he was being accused of being a leader of the New People’s Army in Cavite. His abductors kept on asking him about his alleged visit to a guerrilla zone in South Quezon.
He was also asked about the UCCP leadership, about his family members. They also took his computer and installed “subversive documents.”
Guerrero said his abductors also twisted his nipples until the skin peeled off.
As though the physical torture was not enough, his abductors also employed psychological torture. Guerrero said, “Sabi nila, kukunin nila ang aking asawa at anak na dalaga. Re-rape-in sa harap ko.” (They said they would abduct my wife and daughter and rape them in front of me.)
Guerrero deemed they are capable of doing such crime. He said, “Hindi dapat ganito ang pananalita ng sinuman na nasa law enforcement agency.” (Law enforcers should not talk that way.)
He passed out twice. Before he lost consciousness, Guerrero told to himself, “Ang Panginoon na ang bahala sa akin.” (I entrust myself to the Lord.)
After the interrogation, he was turned over to the Philippine National Police (PNP) in this camp and was shown warrants of arrest for a 1992 murder case and a 1988 inciting to sedition case.
Surveillance
Guerrero sensed he was put under surveillance before he was abducted.
He talked of a certain Jude Mendez who went to their church and introduced himself as a UCCP member from Silliman University. The man became active in church activities, even attending midweek prayer meetings. Many observed that Mendez was always sending text messages while inside the church.
On the day he was abducted, Guerrero said, Mendez was in the church. His colleagues told him that Mendez went out the moment Guerrero and his family stepped out of the church.
Guerrero said that one of his sons saw Mendez inside another van.
Guerrero said his abductors have a duplicate of his old subscriber identity module (SIM) card. He said they took his cell phone and when they returned it, a copy of his old SIM card had been inserted; they took the new one. He said, “Kaya nilang gumawa ng duplicate. Sa pamamagitan noon, kaya nilang magmanman.” (They can make a duplicate [of any SIM card]. Through it, they can monitor someone’s activities.)
Role
Amid everything that happened, Guerrero deemed God has a purpose.
He said, “May dapat akong gawin. (There is something I must do). I should speak for the victims – the disappeared, tortured and killed – and expose how the government treats those who they perceive as enemies.”
He said his arrest was part of the counter-insurgency program of the government. Guerrero said those who took him belong to a military unit. He said, “Hindi pwedeng may mga units na nag-o-operate above the law or under the law. Ang kumuha sa akin lawless enforcers.” (Units of the military should not be allowed to operate as if they are above or under the law. Those who took me are lawless enforcers.)
He said it is important to expose these elements. He said that the Philippine National Police (PNP) covers up these lawless operations.
In his case, Guerrero was charged with murder and inciting to sedition. “…Charges are being used by the military as a justification to abduct us…They want to extract information regarding the NPA. I don’t have any,” he said
First hearing
During the first hearing of the murder case against Guerrero at the Branch 19 of the Regional Trial Court in Bacoor, Cavite, June 6, his lawyers filed a motion for his immediate release.
In an interview, Atty. Emilio Capulong Jr. said there is no basis for Guerrero’s detention. Capulong underscored that no preliminary investigation took place.
RTC Judge Matias Garcia gave the prosecution five days to submit its comment.
Capulong said he is hopeful that the judge would see that their position is just.(Bulatlat.com)
