This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 17, June 5-11, 2005
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
‘Where’s My Father?’
Four
children are among some 20 persons reported missing in Samar; 22 others have
been summarily executed – all in just four months. Behind these alleged
atrocities is Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan whose latest military promotion is under
intense questioning in Congress. BY
DABET CASTAÑEDA Seated across each other,
Cristina Abalos and 2Lt. Wilbert Basquiñas traded irate glances throughout the
congressional inquiry on May 31. When it was her turn to speak, Cristina could
not prevent her emotion from exploding and, in tears, asked one question
directed at Basquiñas: “Where is my father?” Cristina, 36, was the
surprise witness presented to the inquiry of the House committee on defense
headed by Rep. Catalino Figueroa (Samar, 2nd District) last week. She
is the daughter of 62-year old Patricio Abalos who was abducted reportedly by
Philippine Army soldiers under the command of Basquiñas on March 28. He has been
missing since. Mistaken
identity In an interview with
Bulatlat later, Critina said soldiers started to make rounds in village in
Quindaponan, South Road, Km. 2, Catbalogan, Samar in early March. “Nag-survey
sila. Sabi sa amin gusto lang daw makipagkaibigan” (They conducted a survey.
They said they just wanted to make friends), she recalled. But the soldiers proved to
be unwanted visitors rather than friends when at around 8:30 p.m. of March 28
while Patricio was watching the evening news on TV, Cristina noticed a
dark-colored Revo parked in front of their house. Patricio went out to check the
vehicle but as he stepped out of the house, four armed men alighted from the
Revo and took the old man at gunpoint. Cristina said she and
relatives followed the Revo as it headed toward the Military Intelligence
Battalion (MIB) at Camp Lucban, the headquarters of the 8th Infantry
Division of the Philippine Army (ID PA) under the command of Maj. Gen. Jovito
Palparan. Denials The following day, Cristina
and her mother, Rosa, went to the camp to visit Patricio but they were denied
entry by the guards. They then tried to ask assistance from the local Public
Attorney’s Office (PAO) but were turned down because according to the lawyers,
they were also being harassed by soldiers. Going back to the camp on March 30,
the two were again blocked from entering. At the House hearing,
General Palparan, who was present, denied he had any knowledge of Patricio’s
whereabouts.
Confirmation Cristina also recalled that
on March 31, six soldiers led by Basquiñas forced their way into the Abalos home
and searched their house without showing any warrant. “Nasa amin ang tatay
mo. Makikita nyo lang sya pag may baril kayong nilabas” (We have your
father. You’ll only see him if you can show us the firearm), Cristina quoted
Basquiñas as saying. “Kung hindi nyo ilalabas
ang baril, ikaw na ang susunod na dudukutin” (If you can’t show us the
firearm you will be the next to be seized), Basquiñas supposedly told Rosa while
poking his gun at her. The soldiers insisted that
Patricio is a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) and that his gun was hidden
inside a baul (wooden trunk), she said. Finding the trunk, the
soldiers inspected it but found no firearm inside. The soldiers then took some
of Patricio’s clothes and other belongings, including his medicines, put them
inside the trunk and took it with them. Before they left, Basquiñas
left his mobile phone number to Cristina and told her to call him if she needed
anything. Cristina also told
Bulatlat that in a separate meeting between Figueroa, Cristina and Rosa
Abalos and Palparan on April 7 in the congressman’s house in Samar, Palparan had
confirmed that his soldiers had her father in their custody. “Aminin mo na misis na
NPA asawa mo, para matulungan ko kayo” (Just admit that your husband is an
NPA so I can help you), Palparan supposedly told Rosa to which she replied, “Nahihirapan
na ngang maglakad iyon eh” (He could even hardly walk). Palparan also supposedly
told the Abaloses that he already gave a “go signal” to let them visit Patricio
but Cristina said they have yet to see her father. 20
missing The Abaloses are not alone
looking for a loved one. Since Palparan took over the EV military command on
Feb. 10 this year, 20 persons have been reported missing in the region – four of
them children. Liza, 8, Marissa, 7, Charisse, 5, and Kulot, 3, were reportedly
abducted together with Noni Fabella and Rina Balais-Fabella, a member of the
Advocates for Women’s Actions, Rights and Empowerment (AWARE) on March 30 in
Barangay 13, Catbalogan, Samar. One of those missing is
Narciso Parani. Narciso’s wife, Helen, was together with her five-year old son,
Gilbert, when they attended the same House inquiry. Her husband was taken
allegedly by soldiers belonging to the 63rd Infantry Battalion (IB
PA) under the command of Col. Mauel Usi. Narciso was reportedly
taken by the soldiers on the same day along with Jovito Velasco, 32 in Barangay
(village) Sinantan, Calbayog City in Samar. At around 2 a.m. of April
22, soldiers forced their way into the homes of the Paranis and the Velascos in
Sinantan. Elena was able to follow her husband and the soldier-abductors until
they reached the army detachment at the elementary school in Barangay Hamorawon,
a 30-minute ride from Barangay Sinantan. Helen passed out when the
soldiers dragged her husband into a multicab that brought him to the same
detachment. That was the last chance
that the two aggrieved wives saw their husbands. In a separate interview
with Bulatlat, the two men’s wives Helen Parani and Elena Velasco, 38,
said both Jovito and Narciso were also suspected as NPA members. “May nagturo
daw na NPA yung mga asawa namin” (Somebody reportedly fingered at our
husbands as from the NPA), the two told Bulatlat. Denying the military
allegation, Helen said her husband is a farmer while Elena’s husband is a
construction worker. In fact, Elena said they had lived in Manila for almost
eight years and only went back to Samar in June 2004 for the town fiesta.
Alarming The cases of disappearances
have reached alarming proportions in Samar. The human rights group Katungod-SB
(Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples’ Rights-Eastern Visayas) has documented
at least 20 cases of forced disappearances since February. The desaparecidos include
Oscar Cabacang, Anakpawis party-list group provincial coordinator; Amy Cabarles
and a certain Ejercito, both employees of the Samar Provincial Supply Office (SPSO)
in Catbalogan; Roberto Babas, 43, barangay captain of Biri, among others. Worsening
situation Katungod-SB has also
documented 22 cases of extra-judicial killings covering the period Feb. 10 to
May 12. The report noted that six of these cases involved officers of party-list
groups Bayan Muna (people first) and Anakpawis (toiling masses) including the
murder of lawyer Felidito Dacut and Rev. Edison Lapuz. The report said “the rest
were farmers killed in their communities and were later alleged of being members
of the NPA.” Likewise, there have been
36 victims of strafing, bombing and indiscriminate firing; 13 victims of
torture; 16 victims of physical assault and arbitrary arrest; and 17 individuals
arbitrarily detained. Meanwhile, 979 individuals
have been victims of forcible evacuation affecting 21 communities in the towns
of Calbiga, Tarangan, Motiong, Jiabong, Catbalogan and Paranas.
Disappointing In a sworn statement given
to the House inquiry, Alex Lagunzad, Katungod-SB secretary general, put on
record the organization’s opposition to Palparan’s impending promotion and his
continued deployment in Eastern Visayas, saying that these would signal further
that the state’s military and police forces enjoy impunity. The denunciation of
Palparan’s human rights record has reached Congress too. Two congressmen from
Samar have vowed to throw the controversial army officer out of the province and
block his confirmation at the Commission on Appointments (CA). It was a privilege speech
given by Rep. Figueroa Samar on the deteriorating human rights situation in the
province that prompted the House to begin an inquiry into this matter.
Meanwhile, another Samar
congressman, Reynaldo Uy (1st District) submitted to the CA his
strong opposition to the promotion of Palparan from brigadier general to major
general. (Palparan was promoted from colonel while assigned in Oriental Mindoro
to brigadier and then to major general by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in
two years.) In his sworn statement, Uy
called Palparan a “notorious and a remorseless human rights violator.”
With the rate human rights
violations are perpetrated in Samar, the congressman added, Palparan could
surpass his record during his two-year stint as brigade commander of the 204th
Infantry Brigade of the PA (IBPA) in Oriental Mindoro. Uy assailed the CA for
promoting Palparan despite accusations against him when he was still in Mindoro.
“The promotion of Palparan would send the wrong message that human rights
violations are rewarded with promotion,” Uy said in his statement. The two Samar
representatives also said they themselves have received threats for trying to
expose the military’s abuses in the province. Figueroa specifically said he had
received reliable information he and three other high officials from Samar are
marked for liquidation or assassination by military elements for their alleged
leanings with the NPA.
Palparan’s defense Facing the House committee
on national defense, Palparan seemed not worried at all the accusations hurled
at him. Clad in his moss green army officer uniform and black jacket, Palparan
came to town ready for the inquiry. He started his testimony by
attacking Bayan Muna for “launching a smear campaign against his person” and
“demonizing” him even before his deployment to the 8th ID in Eastern
Visayas. “This was done obviously to block by assignment to the region,” he
said. When asked about his
alleged human rights violations, Palparan said he was into counter-insurgency
campaign which entails “great sacrifices foremost from the soldiers and to many
affected people especially those involved in the insurgency.” Palparan added that these
sacrifices are persistent because the insurgency in Samar is at a more advance
stage than in anywhere in the country. He said around 50-60 percent of the
people in the region are either involved or influenced by the NPA. Those
influenced, he said, included soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The top army officer said
NPA guerrillas can “roam freely” in the communities even in the presence of the
military. To date, he said there were 17 soldiers transferred because of
suspicions of collusion. One was discharged while another is under
investigation. Rep. Prospero Pichay who
joined the committee hearing chided Palparan his unfounded statement and
irresponsible accusations about soldiers’ connivance with the NPA. “If you want to win the
war, first you have to win the heart of the people in Samar. Now, probably you
are making the wrong approach,” Pichay told Palparan. Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
■
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4 children among 20 missing persons in Samar
Bulatlat