This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 30, September 4-10, 2005
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Death Squad Behind Lawyer’s
Killing?
Norman Bocar, the lawyer-activist in Eastern Visayas who had called for
President Macapagal-Arroyo’s removal, was shot Sept. 1 in the fashion used for
the execution of activists in the region and in Mindoro Oriental. Both places
had been placed under the command of now Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan. BY
AUBREY SC MAKILAN Was a former Bayan Muna
regional coordinator in Eastern Visayas killed by a death squad allegedly formed
by the controversial Army officer, Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan? This question surfaced
following the Sept. 1 assassination of lawyer Norman Bocar, formerly of Bayan
Muna (BM or people first) and chair of the regional chapter of Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan (Bayan – New Patriotic Alliance). Bocar, who was also Samar
province’s environment and tourism official, had just stepped out of an
interagency meeting in Borongan, Eastern Samar, central Philippines before dawn
of Sept. 1 when two armed men on a motorcycle shot him several times. He
sustained several bullet wounds including on his head. Manolito Serrano, former
Pamalakaya secretary general, had earlier accused President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
and the military top brass of giving their “blessings” for the formation of a
liquidation squad in Mindoro Oriental, where Palparan served as the commander of
the 204th Brigade of the Philippine Army (PA). Serrano said Palparan was behind
the formation of the squad as his “pilot project.” Nestor Nirza, spokesperson
of Bayan-Eastern Visayas, likened the slaying of Bocar and other mass leaders
and organizers in the region to similar political executions in Mindoro
Oriental. Two BM leaders in Eastern Visayas were shot and killed by men on
motorcycles and using .45 cal. pistols, he told Bulatlat. Nirza called for the
investigation of death squads operating in Eastern Visayas. Palparan, who has
been transferred to Central Luzon, had upon assuming the Eastern Visayas command
in February this year vowed to stop the communist rebellion in the region in six
months. Nirza also said that
Bocar’s killing only showed “there is a continuing reign of terror despite the
transfer of Palparan.” Frontline Bayan Muna Rep. Satur
Ocampo, said Bocar had been “in the frontline of protests across the region, all
calling for the removal of Arroyo from the presidency.” The BM party holds
Macapagal-Arroyo and the armed forces chief accountable for Bocar's murder, he
also said. The killing of activists
and other government dissenters is included in the list of crimes appended to
the amended impeachment complaint against the president under the charge of
"culpable violation of the constitution." Meanwhile, Rev. Raul
Domingo, a United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) pastor
and secretary-general of the human rights group Karapatan in Palawan, is now in
a state of coma after he was shot by suspected military agents last Aug. 20. The Promotion of Church
People’s Response (PCPR) said Domingo actively exposed and opposed the abuses of
military, mining companies and destructive projects of the government against
the poor peasants and national minorities in the province. Palparan, who is described
by human rights watchdogs as the “Butcher of Mindoro,” has been reportedly
reassigned to Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija. During his stint in Eastern Visayas
from February to May this year, Karapatan recorded 76 cases of human rights
violations per month, more than 17 cases per week and
more than two cases per day. As of August, Karapatan-Eastern
Visayas has documented 40 cases of forced evacuation in Samar affecting 2,433
individuals or 1,786 families, and 513 other cases of violations of
international humanitarian law. Before Bocar’s killings, 25 cases of summary
execution and seven cases of frustrated killings were recorded. Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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Bulatlat
"President Arroyo is accountable for this latest murder of an innocent,
civilian, unarmed leader of Bayan and Bayan Muna,” he said. “She knows full well
the spate of murders of activists and other political dissenters in Eastern
Visayas and elsewhere but she has refused to use her powers to stop it."