GMA Accused as 'Coddler of Killers in Uniform'

A national fact-finding mission (NFFM) led by the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP) and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP – Philippine Peasant Movement) was held on May 31-June 4 to investigate the April 16 Kananga massacre in Leyte. About the same time (June 2), a turnover of command ceremony was being held at the headquarters of the 19^th Infantry “Commando” Battalion of the Philippine Army in the same province – not to relieve from post its commanding officer, Lt. Col. Oscar Lactao, who commanded the troops allegedly responsible for the massacre – but as a “despedida” (send-off) party for the colonel’s training in the United States. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had given him the Command Staff Course scholarship grant in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat.com

Because of this, human rights advocates at the press conference “Kananga 9 Massacre” held June 13 in Balay Kalinaw, University of the Philippines, Quezon City, called Macapagal-Arroyo “coddler of ‘murderers in uniform’ and giving promotions to perpetrators of worst forms of human rights violations.”

The accusation came as the NFFM revealed the scholarship grant by the president to Lactao to undergo Command Staff Course -- one of the coveted studies among military ranks -- in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S.A.

The scholarship – and a flight to the U.S. – was given despite Lactao’s and his troops’ alleged involvement in the Kananga massacre and other human rights violations in Leyte.

Col. Jovito Palparan Jr. – allegedly responsible for many cases of extra-judicial execution in Oriental Mindoro– was earlier rewarded with a promotion to brigadier general by the president.

“Human rights under the Arroyo regime is the worthiest collateral damage in its intensifying campaign of repression against peasantry struggling for genuine agrarian reform,” said EMJP secretary general Dani Beltran.

Findings

Nine people, four of them minors – including Rey “Kokoy” Corpin, 13 – were killed in the massacre in sitio Mahayahay, Barangay San Isidro, Kananga, in the central Philippines island of Leyte on Holy Week. The incident was first reported by the 19^th IBPA as an “encounter” between Army soldiers and the New People’s Army (NPA). Based on their investigation, however, the NFFM called it a massacre and was blamed on soldiers of the IBPA under the command of Lt. Col. Lactao.

With the help of Dr. Jessie Rey Cruel, forensic medicine expert of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) national office, the victims’ bodies were exhumed and autopsied during the fact-finding. Bagabao barangay chairman Agustin “Osting” Romero and some residents who rushed to the site after the shooting reenacted how they found the victims.

Disputing the May 9 statement issued by Brig. Gen. Eusebio Ramos, commander of the 8^th Infantry Division, that “there were some victims hit in the head because they (victims) were on prone position while others were hit in the body because they were standing,” which described the case as a legitimate encounter, the NFFM noted that what happened was a summary execution, as none of the victims were in the shooting position as shown by wounds in the back of their heads.

Second Lt. Eddie Abolencia, 19^th IB community relations officer, also claimed that “the head wounds were the result of the machine gun fire that the Army used when the group opened fire at them (victims) while approaching the camp.” The investigating group, however, did not find other damages and/or markings on the vegetation or structure on the crime scene.

The NFFM report stressed “the highly selective shots which injured and killed the victims were not from a machine gun but from single shots really intended for precise targets.”

The NFFM also revealed that there was no other serious investigation being conducted by any government agency. The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Kananga restricted its investigation on its area of responsibility.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Regional Director Salvador Ranin declared his willingness to conduct a separate probe but he asked the victims’ relatives to go to his office first. Since nobody who went to his office,  no NBI probe was held, he said.

Villagers said not even the local CHR office was seen at the scene of the crime despite claims that it would conduct a separate investigation.

Zones of peace

At the June 13 press conference, Estrella Corpin, mother of the youngest victim, narrated how she lived her life as a single parent to Rey and his siblings.

Estrella remembered her son’s dream to finish studies in order to help her earn money. She recalled that Rey went to a friend’s house the day before the incident happened just to pick up the plants given to them by the barangay captain. Estrella was to sell these plants to augment her earning from selling viands and washing clothes.

At a mother’s outburst of emotion, Estrella cried out for justice, asking the church people’s help in particular. She has worked as janitress for two years with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines in her town.

As an active member of the Alyansa sa Mag-uuma ug Mamumuo (AMAMO), Estrella was elected as its secretary in November last year.

Meanwhile, Salinlahi, an alliance of children organizations, and Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) denounced the death of four minors included in the massacre: Rey “Kokoy” Corpin, 13; Randy Potoy, 15; Obet Quidlat, 16; and Benjie Cabugoy, 17. All of them were members of the youth organization Anakbayan (People’s Youth).

In the same press conference, Hazel Dizon of Salinlahi said that the incident violated Article X, Section 22 of Republic Act 7610 (An Act Providing for Stronger Deterrence and Special Protection against Child Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination, Providing Penalties for Its Violation, and for Other Purposes) referring to children as subjects of “zones of peace.”

“Children should not be objects of attack and shall be entitled to special respect, shall be protected from any form of threat, assault, torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment,” Dizon said in a statement.

Dizon also cited the military raid in Davao children’s camp last May 24 and the death of children evacuees due to militarization in Pikit, North Cotabato among the many violations of children’s rights by government forces.

Violence after violence

Even after the massacre, incidents of military harassment and intimidation continued to be reported in Leyte, human rights groups said. Relatives of the victims in the Holy Week massacre also said they were being offered with monetary aid to keep silent.

A military operation was conducted in nearby barangays after the ocular inspection at the crime scene where leaders and members of peasant organizations were subjected to surveillance and red-labeling tactics. Lieutenant Abolencia himself reportedly held meetings with various barangays explaining the military’s side of story while “publicly denouncing peasant organizations as NPA front organizations and its members as NPA sympathizers.”

Meanwhile, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Teddy Casiño said that just like government forces, even NPA members have rights under the International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Assuming without conceding that the victims were indeed NPA members, they should be subjected to due process of the law, he said. Bulatlat.com

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