This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 8, April 3-9, 2005
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Leyte
Lawyer Silenced
By Maureen Japzon
Tacloban City – A soft-spoken human
rights lawyer known in Leyte and Samar islands (some 575 kms. from Manila) as a
staunch defender of the poor was silenced forever on March 14 just as the sun
was about to set, right in the middle of this city. The slaying happened less
than two weeks after the army’s 8th Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Jovito
Palparan vowed during a press conference “to eliminate insurgency in Eastern
Visayas in six months.” He also said during a radio interview right after the
killing that he considers Bayan Muna as a “hide-out and recruitment agency” of
the New People’s Army (NPA). In a press conference after
the murder, Bayan Muna president and Representative Satur Ocampo urged President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to stop the series and systematic assaults by alleged
military personnel against Bayan Muna members all over the country. Prior to his new
assignment, Palparan was assigned in Oriental Mindoro as a colonel. During his
stint there, 40 activists from Bayan Muna and other groups were killed. On March 10, the lawyer
presented, along with Bayan Muna Teddy Casiño the results of the mission in a
press conference. Lagunzad relayed that two vans followed the mission members
from the conference site to Tacloban. He said the vans belong to the Military
Intelligence Group (MIG) of the AFP. Meanwhile, the national
office and Leyte chapters of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) have
both offered rewards totaling P150,000 for information leading to the arrest of
Dacut’s killers. Another P100,000 was added by Gen. Dionisio Coloma, provincial
police chief. Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
On March 21
in Basey town, Samar province, more than 2,000 mourners and a convoy of more
than 50 vehicles accompanied the remains of slain human rights lawyer Felidito
Dacut. But militant groups vow, “This is not the end of Attorney Dacut, we will
make sure that those who killed him would be penalized and that justice be
served.” Dacut was the 29th of 32 activists killed since January this
year.
Bulatlat
On his way to buy milk for his daughter on board a multicab traveling along Real
Street this city, lawyer Felidito Dacut was shot to death by unknown assailants.
The assailants remain at large while witnesses reportedly remain under witness’
protection program.
Dacut was the regional coordinator of the militant Bayan Muna (people
first)-Eastern Visayas.
Ocampo said that what happened to Dacut is part of a nationwide systematic
attack against Bayan Muna. He disclosed that since April 2001 to date, 49 Bayan
Muna members and leaders have been killed and 10 others have been abducted.
Wave of terror
“While we consider other aspects and motives of the killing, the circumstances
that surround the assassination of Attorney. Dacut leads to the recent military
campaign and previous pronouncements of Major General Palparan,” Alex Lagunzad,
the secretary general of Katungod, a local human rights organization in Eastern
Visayas, said.
Palparan declared on March 5 an all-out war against “insurgents and
anti-government rallyists,” saying he would wipe them out within six months. In
the same press conference, he also declared that media members who interview
“terrorists” would be penalized.
On March 6, the 63rd Infantry Battalion positioned an armored personnel carrier
(APC) in front of the provincial Bayan Muna headquarters. This alarmed the
national and regional officers of the party-list group, forcing them to conduct
a solidarity mission which Dacut, as regional coordinator, led.
Last year, two other militant leaders in the region were killed. Sammy Bandilla,
regional coordinator of Anakpawis-Eastern Visayas, was brutally murdered in
October while Fr. Allan Caparro, an IFI member and vice-chairperson of the
Promotion of Church People’s Response in Eastern Visayas (PCPR-EV) and a vocal
anti-mining advocate, was shot last Feb. 18, just eight days Palparan assumed
post.
A dedicated man
“Attorney Dacut, the soft-spoken lawyer of the marginalized sector, a known
civil libertarian and a friend to his comrades and a loving husband and father
was a victim of a politically-motivated crime, his assassination shocked us and
caused deep sorrow but it only encourages us to continue what he has started,”
grieved Nestor Nirza, the secretary general of Bayan Muna-Eastern Visayas.
Nirza related to Bulatlat that Dacut came from a meeting with other Bayan
Muna officers but excused himself to buy milk for his two-year-old daughter when
killed.
He also noted how Dacut’s physical health failed to keep him from visiting his
clients who live in the interior barrios. He said most of Dacut’s clients were
poor peasants and it was Dacut himself who would go to their places, showing the
attention he gave even to small cases.
Aside from providing legal services, he was also a known labor organizer:
educating workers as well as the urban poor about their rights and helping them
form their own groups.
Appeal for resolution
On the same day that Dacut was shot dead, Ocampo was on the floor of Congress,
giving a privilege speech regarding the killing of activists. “My speech was not
yet through when I received a message of the incident,” said Ocampo.
The militant solons are circulating a House Resolution urging the president to
take immediate action and stop the spate of killings and other forms of
political repression against militants.
“This climate of terror is nothing less than a state of terrorism on legal
organizations and party lists, needing immediate action from the President,”
said Ocampo.
“This is not just a simple attack on Bayan Muna but an attack on our civil
liberties. Binubusalan ang media at pinapatay ang mga attorney at mga pari
(Media is being gagged and lawyers and priests are being killed), therefore we
urge all civil libertarians to support our nationwide protest,” said Robert de
Castro, deputy secretary general of Bayan Muna.
Reward