Human rights watch
Human Rights Abuses in Pictures
A
Human Rights Day photo exhibit in Bicol couldn’t help but be gruesome.
By Lino D. Interino III
Bulatlat
Legaspi
City – A Human Rights Day photo
exhibit in Bicol couldn’t help but be gruesome as it shows victims of
human rights violations, in pictures.
Dubbed as “Faces of
Fascism”, the photo exhibit was held on December 13 at the Bicol
University Graduate School Building
by the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights (Karapatan-Bicol)
in coordination with the Bicol University Student Council (USC).
Human rights abuses
allegedly committed by military men and members of Citizen Armed Forces
Geographical Unit (CAFGU) were exposed in pictures and stories. The
display also included the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the people’s rights as stated in the Philippine Constitution.
There were mixed
reactions from students who viewed the display. Some felt pity; others
felt angry at the torturers and the perpetrators of killings. Some only
passed by with raised eyebrows. Still, others, especially some faculty
members, did not pay any attention to the exhibit.
Eric Dorente, public
information officer of Karapatan-Bicol, said the human rights situation is
not being given attention. He said the purpose of the exhibit is to show
to students and the public the rampant human rights violations in the
region.
A total of 71
activists in the region have been killed from January 2001 to November
this year. The most number of abuses were in Albay, with 25 cases
recorded. Twenty of the victims were killed this year.
Number of Victims of Killing under
the Arroyo Administration
January 20, 2001 to November 30, 2005 |
Province |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
TOTAL |
Albay |
6 |
8 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
25 |
Camarines Norte |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
Camarines Sur |
1 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
15 |
Catanduanes |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Masbate |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
Sorsogon |
0 |
8 |
6 |
3 |
5 |
22 |
TOTAL |
7 |
20 |
18 |
15 |
11 |
71 |
Research by Bulatlat showed there are
28 political detainees in Bicol as of Nov. 30 |
Gruesome
cases
The Karapatan photos
showed victims of recent killings, as well as of previous years.
Bayan Muna (people
first) party-list member Ricardo Uy, 49, was killed on Nov. 18 at about 11
a.m. inside his own rice mill in Barangay (village) Basud, Sorsogon City.
Ding, as he is fondly called, is the 67th Bayan Muna member to
be killed since the party-list won a seat in Congress. He is also the 70th
murder victim in Bicol since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo became president.
Two Saturdays before
Ding’s death, a radio program run by the Philippine Army in dzMS Sorsogon
City, “Ugnayan sa Kapayapaan” (linking for peace), maliciously
tagged him as an “emerging leader” of the New People’s Army (NPA).
The most dreadful
story was that of the Golloso children. Based on reports, Melody Golloso,
18, and sister Mylene, 13, were inside their house on May 7, 2004 in
Barangay Recto, Bulan, Sorsogon, cooking merienda (afternoon
snacks). Her other siblings Raymund, 6, a special child, together with
Resty, 9, were playing in the frontyard.
At around 2:30 p.m.,
they suddenly heard gunshots. Melody and Mylene called in their brothers,
and they all went inside their parents’ room. The shooting stopped. Mylene
and Raymund sat on the bed, as Melody and Resty peeked through the front
door. The two didn’t see anyone outside. Then, two shots were again fired.
Based on Karapatan
reports, Melody checked the bedroom and saw Raymund’s head bleeding and
Mylene’s left face hit, but still alive and calling for their mother.
Melody and Resty left their wounded siblings and ran away from the house.
As they left, they reportedly heard someone said: “Pasukin natin ang
bahay, baka may buhay pa! (let’s go inside the house, there may be a
survivor).” Then they heard more gunshots.
Meanwhile, some 200
meters away from the Golloso’s residence, their mother Adelina saw
elements of the military and members of the CAFGU at the barangay hall and
barangay captain’s house. When she heard the first gunshot in the
direction of her house, she quickly ran home, thinking of her kids.
When she got home,
she saw seven uniformed members of the Philippine Army, three of them
hidden behind the trees. The army tried to prevent her from approaching
the house, but she ignored them and called for her kids.
When she entered the
house, she saw Raymund, his head lying on Mylene’s stomach, both bathed in
blood. The dying Raymund still managed to open his eyes, and seeing
Adelina, said “Ma…”. She went outside and saw the military men still in
the yard.
“Hoy! Mamamatay na
ang dalawang anak ko! Anong kasalanan ng mga anak ko! Wala silang mga
kasalananan! Humihinga pa ang isa kong anak! (Hey! My two children
are dying! What is the fault of my children! They have no fault! My child
is still breathing!),” she screamed on the top of her lungs, begging for
help for her kids. But the soldiers did nothing.
“They said it was the
NPA that did this to my kids,” Adelina said in an interview. But they
(military) did not do anything to help her save her children.
The armed men
belonged to the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the 902nd
Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army. Adelina later found out that
after the incident, the military went to the barangay captain and asked
for a certification that would state that an encounter between the NPA and
the army occurred, that the initial fire came from the NPA, and that it
was the NPA that killed Mylene and Raymund.
But Adelina
countered: “Walang NPA sa aming bahay. Kung may palitan ng putok, tiyak
may mga tama ang aking bahay. Sa nakita ko, dadalawa lamang ang tama sa
dingding, maliban sa tig-isang tama ng dalwang bata. At wala kaming
nakuhang empty shells sa palibot ng kabahayan.(There was no NPA
in our house. If there was an exchange of gunfire, surely there would be
marks on my house. From what I saw, there were only two gunshot holes in
the wall, aside from the two shots that hit my kids. And we found no empty
shells in the yard).
In Barangay Tubuan,
Caramoan town, Camarines Sur, Roger Alperez Soriano, 20, was reportedly
abducted by soldiers of the 42nd Infantry Batallion on April
10, 2004. Three days later, his body was found buried in lotus position
in a two feet deep pit in a hilltop.
Meanwhile, on Feb. 9,
2003, Henry Madrid, 31, was asleep with his 10-month old baby when
suspected soldiers and CAFGU men allegedly came to his house in Barangay
Gumapia, Irosin town, Sorsogon. The baby he was holding survived, found
bathed in his father’s blood.
According to Henry’s
wife Annabelle, soldiers came to their house on Jan. 24, supposedly
looking for a barangay kagawad who was renting house.
A student said, “Nakakaawa
sila kasi karamihan sa kanila mga inosente lalo na ‘yung magkapatid na
Golloso (I felt sorry for them because many of them are innocent
especially the Golloso siblings.)” Bulatlat
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