Group Demands Junking RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement over Death of Filipino Interpreter

The Supreme Court granted the writ of amparo and the writ habeas data hearing to Cardeno’s family and friends on July 1. Indayla said that the CHR declined to grant protective custody to Cardeno’s family because CHR officials said the CHR “building was still under construction.” The family was in desperate need of protective sanctuary because of threat to their lives.

Groups belonging to the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) trooped to the streets in Davao City on July 2, calling on the new administration to scrap the VFA and to make the Arroyo administration accountable for what happened to Gregan Cardeno, the interpreter from Ipil, Zamboanga who died while working with US troops in February this year.

Bai Ali Indayla, the secretary-general of the Moro human rights group Kawagib, said that the death of Cardeno was only the latest of the series of abuses committed by US soldiers during the Balikatan exercises.

She said the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) was not allowed to get inside the Philippine Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade headquarters, where the US troops were housed in Marawi City, to investigate.

“Right here in our country, authorities lose the right to investigate,” Indayla said.

“CHR was not allowed to enter the 103rd brigade compound,” she said.

Bai Ali Indayla, spokesperson of human rights group Kawagib, talks with the wife of Gregan Cardeño. (Photo by Jose Hernani/davaotoday.com / bulatlat.com)

Kawagib was among the groups who called on the new administration of President Aquino to let the Arroyo administration answer for what happened to Cardeno. Her group is also calling on the new administration to junk and abrogate the VFA, a treaty between the US and the Philippines which allowed US troops in the country for the combat exercises dubbed as Balikatan with Filipino soldiers.

Indayla said that the VFA is an “affront” to national sovereignty.

“If you’ve seen the wounds on his legs and feet, it looked like he was nailed down,” Indayla said. “It was even worse than what happened to Nicole,” said Indayla, referring to the Subic rape case which convicted a US serviceman. The conflicting accounts from the US military and the Marawi police made the group suspect a cover up, she explained. (Bulatlat.com)