Families of Slain Residents Push Criminal
Raps
vs. Suspended Kalinga PNP Chief
Two victims’ heads run
over by PNP jeep, survivors say
The families of two Tabuk, Kalinga
residents alleged to have been extra-judicially killed upon orders from
suspended provincial police chief Preddro Ramos are seeking justice by
urging appropriate authorities to file criminal cases against all involved
Philippine National Police (PNP) officials and personnel.
BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
The families of two
Tabuk, Kalinga residents alleged to have been extra-judicially killed upon
orders from suspended provincial police chief Preddro Ramos are seeking
justice by urging appropriate authorities to file criminal cases against
all involved Philippine National Police (PNP) officials and personnel.
The two survivors –
Rodel Gallema and Robert Lutao – related in an affidavit how suspended
Kalinga PNP chief Pedro Ramos and his men “brutally killed” Gubiangan and
Elmer Gallema, both residents of Tabuk, after bringing them to Tuguegarao,
Cagayan.
They said in an
affidavit that the Ramos-led PNP arrested them without warrant in the
morning of May 23 in the Gubiangan residence in Gobgob, Tabuk where the
four had been fencing in lands for goat raising.
They were brought to
the Kalinga PNP provincial barracks in Tabuk and in the afternoon taken to
the Prosecutor’s Office in Tuguegarao, Cagayan where the PNP prevented
their relatives from accompanying them. Going back to Tabuk from
Tuguegarao and near the Eleb Cemetery along the road, Ramos grabbed and
pushed Gubiangan out of the PNP jeepney while another officer – identified
as Silawa – did the same to Elmer Gallema. The two were handcuffed at that
time, said the surivors.
A white mini dump
truck, parked near the cemetery earlier, ran over Noel and Elmer. When
Ramos ordered his men to check if the two were alive, one of his men
answered positively. Ramos allegedly ordered his men, “Ilagay y’ong ulo
sa gulong at atrasan” (Put their heads near the jeep’s tires and run
them over), Rodel Gallema and Lutao said in their joint affidavit.
They added that the
jeep ran over Noel and Elmer’s heads “at least seven times.” Ramos, they
also said, ordered his men to bring the two mangled bodies to the Kalinga
Provincial Hospital where they were recovered by their families.
The arrest
Based on a notarized
document received by Nordis, brothers Elmer and Rodel Gallema, from
Tuga, Tabuk, went to the Gubiangan same town in the afternoon of May 21 to
fence in the land of the latter. Noel Gubiangan, the son of Adelberta who
hired them, and Robert Lutao joined them in fencing the land where the
goats are raised.
Adelberta Gubiangan
said that at 1:30 am of May 23, unidentified attackers fired for at least
thirty minutes at her son’s house where the four were sleeping. At early
dawn, ten members of the Philippine Army arrived in the area to secure
them as allegedly ordered by the mayor of Tabuk. Policemen led by Ramos
arrived later on board a PNP jeep and ordered the Army: “Kunin n’yo
lahat ng mga lalaki rito, kunin mo ito” (Get all the men here, get
this one), pointing to Noel (Gubiangan).
She told of having
pleaded to Ramos and his men but to no avail as they brought the four to
the PNP barracks in Bulanao, Tabuk. In the afternoon, she said, the four
were brought by Ramos and his men to Tuguegarao.
At 10 o’ clock that
night, she received text messages saying that her son Noel and Elmer were
at the Kalinga Provincial Hospital. She where there and saw their dirty
bodies, with broken bones and flattened heads.
Survivors jailed
Nordis
learned that Rodel and Robert, after having been tortured by Ramos’ men,
are now detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in
Bulanao village, Tabuk. A reliable source said that they are detained due
to a criminal case filed against them by Ramos.
Ramos was recently
reported to have been relieved from his post. Col. Roberto Damian of the
PNP-CAR has taken over as officer-in-charge.
Meanwhile, the multi-sectoral
groups in Tabuk that had noted the rise of extra-judicial and political
killings in Tabuk urged the investigation and punishment of PNP officials
and members involved in these killings. The latest was the ambush of the
family of Dr. Constancio “Chandu” Claver and his wife Alyce, in which the
latter was killed. Their daughter, who was with the couple when they were
shot, is said to have been traumatized by the incident.
Tabuk residents say
that the killings in Kalinga began when Ramos took over the command from
S/Supt. James Dugao.
The Cordillera Human
Rights Alliance (CHRA) stated that families of the victims pointed to
Ramos as the “culprit” behind these killings.
Lawyer Reynaldo
Cortes, CHRA chairman, said that there have been 16 victims of summary
executions and seven cases of frustrated murder in Kalinga since January
this year. Media reports, meanwhile, place the number of victims of
extra-judicial killings in the province at 23 for the same period.
Even lawyers handling
cases against Ramos have been threatened and harassed.
For instance, Warren
Luyaben, president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Kalinga
chapter, had been receiving what he described as “scary messages.” His
residence was sprayed with M-16 bullets on Aug. 16. Northern Dispatch /
Posted by Bulatlat
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