Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 19 June 13 - 19, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Murder
Not Encounter, Mourning Parents Say After
being forced by the military to sign a statement saying that an encounter
between government troops and communist guerillas led to the killing of two
minors last May in Sorsogon, village head Eduardo Adamos finally tells what
happened on that fateful day: “Natakot
lang ako kaya ako pumirma dun sa certification” (I signed the
certification out of fear), he said. By
Dabet Castañeda After
being forced by the military to sign a statement saying that an encounter
between government troops and communist guerillas resulted in the killing of two
minors last May in Sorsogon, barangay (village) captain Eduardo Adamos finally
revealed what happened on that fateful day:
“Natakot lang ako kaya ako pumirma dun sa certification” (I
signed the certification because I was afraid), he said.
Overcoming
his fear of what he thinks the military may do to him, Adamos, of Barangay
Recto, Bulan town, Sorsogon province (a 10-hour trip away from Manila),
accompanied on June 8 the Gollosos, the family of two children killed in a
massacre, in filing a case at the office of the Joint Secretariat (JS) of the
Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) of the government (GRP) and the National
Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). Adamos
recounted that around 2 p.m. on May 7 soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Battalion
of the Philippine Army under Lt. Col. Romeo Cabatic came to their village. The 2nd
IBPA has its headquarters at Laboy in the town of Matnog. The
barangay leader identified a certain Cesar Loares, a member of the Citizen’s
Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu), as one of the alleged assailants,
together with eight soldiers from the 2nd IBPA. Adamos said the army unit came
to his house “for the usual courtesy call” and added it was the army’s
regular military operation. The
soldiers then went to the direction of the Golloso’s house, which was about
two kilometers away from the village proper.
After
about 10 minutes, Adamos said, he heard gunshots. When he was about to proceed
to the town proper to tell their mayor, Guillermo de Castro, the soldiers
arrived at his house and asked for a certificate. Mila
Sorio, a village councilor who also accompanied the Golloso family at the JS
office, said she was the one who made the certificate that the military forced
the barangay captain to sign. “Dinikta
nila sa akin yung isusulat ko” (They dictated what to write), she said.
As
Sorio recalled, she wrote in the certificate that an encounter between the
soldiers and the NPA occurred on May 7 at around 1 p.m. She was made to write
that the soldiers arrived at their barangay, that at 3 p.m. they went on an
operation, that after a few minutes there was a shoot out, and that after 30
minutes the soldiers went back to the village proper.
The soldiers reportedly added that it was NPA guerrillas who shot the two
Golloso children. But
Adamos said he did not believe that there was an encounter between government
troops and the NPA. “Yung mga
sundalo lang ang nakita kong armado sa lugar namin nung araw na yon.
Wala namang mga NPA” (The only armed persons in our area then were
the soldiers.There were no NPAs) he said. “Pero
sa takot ko, pinirmahan ko yung certification” (But out of fear, I signed
the certification) he added. Case
filed Meanwhile,
members of the Golloso family are still in a daze.
“Hindi
ko pa rin matanggap na wala na ang mga anak ko” (I could not believe my
children are gone), said Ricardo Golloso, 54, father of the two minors killed
allegedly by the soldiers. He,
together with his wife Adelia, 47, and his two children Melody, 18, and Resty,
9, came all the way from Bulan, Sorsogon to file the case at the GRP-Monitoring
Committee against soldiers from the 2nd IBPA whom they alleged as the killers of
Maylene, 13, and Raymund, 6. Aside
from the village officials, the Gollosos were accompanied by human rights
workers from the regional chapter of Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of
People’s Rights) in Bicol. Opened
last June 4, the office of the JMC is at the Multi-Purpose Center just in front
of the Immaculate Concepcion Church on Lantana St., Cubao, Quezon City.
Seventy-eight cases of human rights violations have been filed at the GRP-MC.
None so far has been filed at the NDFP-MC.
The
JMC was operationalized by both the GRP and NDFP to monitor violations of the
Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), an agreement that took effect on August 7, 1998. This
agreement seeks to humanize the conduct of the civil war in the country. LINK TO OBJECTIVES Cold-blooded
murder In
an exclusive interview with Bulatlat.com last June 8, Adelia said she
left her four children at home at about 2:35 p.m. that day and went to the
village proper. Arriving
at the village proper, she saw soldiers at Adamos’ house. She then saw them
head to the direction of their house. Ten
minutes later, she heard gunshots that she thought came from her house. Heading
back home as fast as she could, she saw the soldiers around her house, some
crawling on the ground and some crouched behind coconut trees. She
ran inside their house and found her two children bathed in their own blood. “Yung
mga sundalo ang nakita ko dun sa bahay ko kaya alam ko sila ang pumatay sa mga
anak ko” (I saw the soldiers so I know they were the ones who killed my
children), she said. Girlie
Padilla, acting secretary general of the church-based human rights group
Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP), said the children have become
actual targets of military operations. “They have ceased to being incidental
victims,” she said. The
human rights leader added that the case of the Golloso kids is not just a
violation of human rights and international humanitarian law but is a criminal
case against the alleged military assailants.
Denial
of medical attention Part
of the provision of the CARHRIHL states that “the wounded and sick shall be
collected and cared for by the party to the conflict which has them in power. Protection also covers medical personnel, establishments,
transports and equipment (Article 2, No. 3).” However,
this provision was not followed in the case of Adelia’s son. According to
Adelia, Raymond, a special child whom everyone called Bunonoy, was still alive
when she got inside the house. For
about 10 minutes, she pleaded to the soldiers for help her but they just walked
away. “Humihinga pa yung anak
ko pero tiningnan lang kami nung mga sundalo.
Hindi nila kami tinulungan” (My son was still breathing but the
soldiers just looked at us. They
did not help us), she said. Relocation The
Gollosos work as coconut farmers in a two-hectare lot owned by a certain Rosario
Nuñez. As their income from the
farm is not sufficient for their daily needs, the couple plant cassava and
banana and sell these to their neighbors. After
the death of Maylene and Raymund, the family relocated at a relative’s house
in the town proper. “Hindi
na namin kayang makita ang bahay kung saan namatay ang aking mga anak (We
cannot go on living inside that house where my children got killed), Adelia
said. Both
Ricardo and Adelia lost their jobs as coconut farm workers since their
migration. Their only means of
survival at the moment is the dole out from friends and relatives who went to
their children’s funeral. “Pag
naubos yung abuloy, hindi ko na alam kung saan kami kukuha” (If all
donations have been spent, I just wouldn’t know how we’ll survive), Adelia
said. Meanwhile,
Ricardo asked the help of incoming mayor Helen Rose de Castro but the public
official could not give him a job until she officially sits in office on July 1.
Melody,
who just graduated from secondary school, has also decided to stop schooling.
“Naguguluhan pa ako sa nangyari (I’m still disturbed by what
had happened), she said. Padilla
said the effect of a disastrous military operation usually includes relocation,
as in the case of the Gollosos, or mass evacuation when the whole community or
several communities have become victims of military abuses. EMJP has documented at least 160 cases of forced evacuation affecting 15,096 families or 112,664 individuals since January 2001. More than half of the victims are children. Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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