Human Rights Watch

Air Force, Police Detain Family of 5
Foot of slain NPA fighter missing

Following a raid-shootout between the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and the New People’s Army (NPA) in Cavite province on June 13, a family of five, including a four-year old girl and a two-year old boy, were picked up by the troops and have been detained for a week now. The father, Isidro, and eldest child Rico, who was wounded, are held at the Maragondon municipal jail while the mother, Gemma, and her two children are at the PAF camp in Nasugbu, Batangas.  All have been charged with rebellion.

By dabet castañeda
Bulatlat.com

MARAGONDON, Cavite – Isidro Bartolome, 54, a mag-uuling (charcoal maker), traces his roots to Masbate, a province in the Bicol region south of Manila. His wife, Gemma, 35, is a native of Maragundon, Cavite. Rico, 24, is Isidro’s son by his first wife. Isidro and Gemma have two children, Gemmalyn 4, and Jinggoy, 2.

They led a quiet life in the mountainous Barangay (village) Mabacao in Maragundon, a four-hour south-bound ride from Manila. 

But peace turned to terror last week. On June 13 at around 1:45 a.m., a squad of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) operating in the boundaries of the provinces of Cavite and Batangas, fired at a kubol (small hut) beside their house where some 12 members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were sleeping, villagers said.

A firefight ensued. When the shooting stopped, three NPA guerrillas lay dead.

The church-based human rights group Cavite Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (CEMJP), which conducted a fact-finding mission right after the incident, identified the casualties as a certain “Ka (comrade) Gary,” “Ka Ivan” and “Ka Nica.” 

Mistaken identity

Interviewed by Bulatlat.com, Margundon police chief, Sr. Insp. Noel Flores, said he was at the firefight and that the Bartolome family was captured after the guerillas had gone.

It was not immediately clear why some of the Bartolome brood were wounded and why they were arrested and detained. Apparently, Rico was hit in the crossfire. The raid itself surprised the guerillas but were able to respond resulting in a running gunbattle.                      

Although TV reports said that Rico, who sustained a gunshot wound on his right shoulder, was brought to the military’s V. Luna Hospital in Quezon City, Nida Barcenas, secretary general of CEMJP, said that all five were actually brought by helicopter from Mabacao to the Villamor Airbase.

Barcenas, who was able to get in touch with Isidro and Rico on June 17 in their detention cell in Maragundon, said that the bullet that hit Rico remained embedded in his body.  Apart from antibiotics and painkillers, no other medical assistance was given.  No operation was scheduled, he said.

From Villamor, father and son were then brought to their detention cell in Maragondon. Gemma and her two children, on the other hand, were brought to the PAF base in Nasugbu, Batangas, also south of Manila. 

Human right groups have received no report about the mother and her two youngchildren but police officer Flores said he saw them when he visited the PAF camp and thought that “they were doing fine.” 

“Actually, they are not treated as prisoners there. They are free to roam around the camp.  Tumatakbo pa nga yung mga bata, nakahubo,” he said. They are however not allowed to go home or even just outside the camp

Charges               

Charges of rebellion were filed against Isidro, Rico and Gemma on June 15 at the Imus Regional Trial Court (RTC) attended by Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Oscar R. Jarlos.  Lone complainant is PO1 Paulino Riman of the Maragundon PNP. 

Isidro also told Barcenas that at the Imus court he and Rico were forced to sign a statement.  He said they did not understand what was written on the statement but, out of fear, they signed it just the same.

Barcenas however said that there is no basis for the complaint as members of the Bartolome family were all civilians.

She added that the detention of the Bartolome family is a violation of their human rights and of the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). The agreement, signed by both the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) in 1998 states in Part 4, Article 4, Number 4 that “Civilian population and civilians shall be treated as such and shall be distinguished from combatants and, together with their property, shall not be the object of attack.”

Asked if the police had proof that the three were members of the NPA, Flores said they will present in court evidence that authorities recovered from the Bartolomes’ house including “firearms and subversive documents.” The police officer, however, said that he is not sure if the three have undergone paraffin tests to see if they were involved in the firefight.

Bulatlat.com was not allowed to interview Isidro and Rico when this reporter visited the Maragondon municipal jail on June 18. 

“The relatives are allowed to visit the detainees but no other groups can visit or interview them.  Let the lawyers handle this because this is a serious case against the government,” Flores explained. 

Evacuation

The police officer also denied reports that the residents of Mabacao are victims of forced evacuation and that some homes were destroyed. He said those are all black propaganda. He also denied reports that PAF troops stole properties of civilians. 

“Ano namang gamit ang makukursunadahan ng mga military dun? Wala namang mga high-tech na gamit doon” (What could military men possibly want from their things? There are no high-tech equipment there), he said.  The only things they got were the bloodstained clothes and some subversive documents, he added.

The police officer also said he visited the place after the shootout and saw the villagers living their normal lives.  “Walang umalis duon” (None of them left the area), he said. 

Contrary to what Flores said, however, Billy Cabarles, 38, a neighbor of the Bartolomes, said they were driven out of the their homes after the shooting. 

Cabarles told Bulatlat.com in an undisclosed place in Cavite that two other families in their neighborhood have deserted their homes for fear that the military could conduct another operation in their place. 

The villager said that upon learning of the raid-shootout, he immediately ran to the nearby mountain together with his wife and two children.  “Huwag mo paiiyakin yung mga bata, baka mamatay tayo dito” (Don’t let the children cry, we may get killed here), he recalled telling his wife.

On June 14, a day after the incident, Cabarles and his family went back home but to their dismay, they saw their hut torn apart. Checking the place, they realized that their belongings were gone – used and unused clothes, personal documents, Billy’s wallet including his village certificate and clearance, birth certificates and health cards, kitchen utensils, their children’s milk bottles, pillows, mattress and blankets. 

“Tatlong baso at isang pitsel lang ang naiwan sa gamit namin sa bahay.  Kahit gusto naming bumalik doon, wala na kaming babalikan” (Three glasses and a pitcher were all that was left of our belongings. Even if we wanted to, there was nothing to go back to), he said.

In an affidavit signed on June 18, Cabarles demanded indemnification from the PAF for the destruction of their home and the loss of their property.

Cannibalizing the guerillas

Barcenas, who headed a fact-finding mission from June 15 to 17, said the families of the three alleged NPA members killed in the encounter asked their assistance to locate their bodies. 

The fact-finding mission team found the bodies at the Funeraria Destresa in Nasugbu, Batangas on June 16.  Barcenas said the bodies were almost undistinguishable because the guerillas suffered several gunshot wounds.  They were also left unattended for about two days at the morgue. 

The alleged guerilla who went by the name of Ka Gary suffered 26 gunshot wounds and was only identified by his relatives from his tattoos at the back.  The post mortem report, issued by Dr. Rufino Diez of the Nasugbu Municipal Health Office, showed that Ka Gary’s right foot was missing.  He was laid to rest on June 19.

Another guerrilla had 21 gunshot wounds and while the third 12. They were given proper burial rites by their families on June 17. 

Barcenas said the mutilation and desecration of the remains of the three guerillas is a violation of the CARHRIHL. Part 4, Article 3, Number 1 of the agreement prohibits “violence to life and person, particularly killing or causing injury, being subjected to physical or mental torture, mutilation …” Number 4 prohibits “desecration of the remains of those who have died in the course of the armed conflict…”

The human rights group CEMJP will consult with the families of the guerillas on whether to file a case at the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) of the Arroyo government (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).  The JMC, whose offices in Quezon City were opened June 4 is tasked to monitor the implementation of the principles of human rights and international humanitarian law in the ongoing civil war in the country.  Bulatlat.com

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