Justice remains elusive for a Kalinga Pangat (tribal leader) Rafael Markus “Makoy” Bangit who was extra-judicially executed last year as it does in the cases of other victims of political killings throughout the country.

BY KIM QUITASOL
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 18, June 10-16, 2007

BAGUIO CITY (246 kms north of Manila) – Justice remains elusive for a Kalinga Pangat (tribal leader) extra-judicially executed last year as it does in the cases of other victims of political killings throughout the country.

This was the sentiment of colleagues, friends and relatives of Rafael Markus “Makoy” Bangit, a Kalinga tribal leader and peace pact holder murdered in 2006 as they commemorated last week his first death anniversary with an ecumenical mass at the Lourdes church here.

Makoy, as his colleagues and relatives call him, was gunned down on June 8, 2006 at San Isidro, Echague, Isabela (344 kms north of Manila) by still unidentified hooded men suspected to be members of military death squads. Also killed was Gloria Casuga, a teacher who was with Bangit in the same vehicle when he was shot, and who cried for help after the shooting took place.

At the time of his death Makoy was the regional coordinator of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) Elders Desk and the Bodong Peoples Organization (BPO), a federation of Cordillera tribal leaders affiliated with the CPA.

One of Makoy’s colleagues, CPA secretary-general Windel Bolinget, said during the ecumenical mass that “justice is still elusive” for Makoy and the over 800 others who suffered the same fate under the present administration’s national-security plan Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL or Operation Freedom Watch).

“Is it right to kill Makoy and all the other victims of political killings?” Bolinget said. “Is it right to kill church workers, lawyers, journalists, workers and peasants? Is it a sin to serve the nation and God?”

Bolinget also said activists are wary that political killings would worsen with the impending implementation of the Human Security Act, also known as the Anti-Terrorism Law, on July 14.

“If we want peace, we should fight for social justice,” Bolinget said, “Evil prevails when Christians and good men do nothing. We should not allow darkness and evil to prevail.”

Bp. Marino Inong, in his homily, said Bangit is “one of the saints of his time” even if he was not a church worker. He explained that although not a church worker, Bangit offered his life as a living sacrifice in the service of the poor and oppressed.

Inong called on everyone to “continue working for truth and justice amid all persecution.” He added, “Let our faith be transformed in a life of service for truth, peace and justice.”

In a joint-statement read during the mass, CPA, Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) and Hustisya criticized the Arroyo administration as the killings continue despite growing national and international condemnation.

The said statement mentioned that earlier this year, investigation missions by United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs Rodolfo Stavenhagen and Philip Alston resulted in strongly-worded condemnations of the extra-judicial killings of activists by military and police elements under the Arroyo administration.

It added that last March in The Hague, The Netherlands, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) issued an even stronger condemnation, stating that the crimes perpetrated by the Arroyo regime against the Filipino people qualified as crimes against humanity.

In May, public demonstrations against the killings greeted Arroyo’s state visits to Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. This June, a similar demonstration met Arroyo upon her arrival in Rome.

CHRA reports showed that more than 50 people have been added to the list of victims since Alston’s visit to the country in February, raising the total to more than 850. In Kalinga, hit men have again made their presence felt, this time stalking Andres Wailan and Theodore Ngayaan, Makoy’s successors in the leadership of CPA-Kalinga, CHRA reports also showed.

“It appears that no amount of embarrassment before the international community can stop Mrs. Arroyo,” the joint statement read. “Perhaps only economic pressure can force an end to her political killings.”

CPA, CHRA and Hustisya await the Canadian Parliament’s action on a petition filed May 30 for Canada to intervene to end the killings, using as leverage the $25 million in aid and the $1.5 billion investment in bilateral trade that it has committed to the Philippines. The petition was signed by more than 5,000 Canadian citizens and endorsed by 13 Ministers of Parliament.

A similar petition has been filed by Japanese non-government organizations with their government.

“We call on the citizens of other countries that invest heavily in the Philippines, or that extend official development assistance and even military aid to the Philippine government, to follow their example,” the statement read. “And we call on our fellow Filipinos to fearlessly persist in public actions against the atrocities of the Arroyo regime.” the statement ended. Northern Dispatch / Posted by (Bulatlat.com)

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