AFP Asked to Shed
Light on Rebel Leaders' Abduction, Execution
The Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP) is being asked to explain reports of summary
executions of a number of suspected communist leaders and guerrillas. The
demand has been raised for possible violations of international
humanitarian law and protocols of war.
BY
DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat
In three separate incidents in the last
three weeks, a high-ranking official of the Communist Party of the
Philippines (CPP) was abducted; a New People's Army (NPA) leader was
summarily executed; and a mentally-impaired son of a farmer was allegedly
salvaged by soldiers after suffering setbacks from firefights with the NPA.
In statements send to the media, the
CPP has denounced these acts as violations of international humanitarian
law and the Geneva protocol of war.
Abductions
Leo Velasco, an acknowledged CPP leader
and consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)
for the peace negotiations with the government, was reportedly abducted by
government agents on Feb. 19 in Cagayan de Oro, the city capital of the
province of Misamis Oriental, southern Philippines.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have earlier denied the report.
"You are a bunch of liars," CPP
spokesperson Rogelio "Ka Roger" Rosal said in a statement referring to the
government agents. He said only the Macapagal-Arroyo administration was
running after Velasco.
Witnesses said Velasco was abducted in
"broad daylight and in full public view" at around 10:30 a.m. by three
armed men who introduced themselves as government agents, a CPP statement
said. Added to this, witnesses said one of the armed men wore a vest with
the insignia of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
Velasco was being tagged by military
intelligence agents as a member of the team that carried out the
“punishment” on Jan. 23, 2003 to Romulo Kintanar, erstwhile chief of staff
of the NPA who, underground reports said, was found guilty of
counter-revolutionary acts.
In February 2006, the military said
Velasco was one of the CPP leaders who met with 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan in
Batangas to plot a civilian-backed coup against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The missing CPP leader was identified
in a
powerpoint presentation by the Northern Luzon Command (NolCom)
sometime in March 2006 because of his supposed involvement in the coup
plot. His old picture in sepia was placed side-by-side with another
alleged CPP leader, Prudencio Calubid, who was also abducted allegedly by
soldiers on June 27, 2006 in Camarines Sur, south of Manila. Calubid and
three of his companions have been reported missing.
Another alleged NPA member, Philip
Limjoco, was also abducted May 8, 2006 in Dau, Pampanga.
Velasco, Calubid and Limjoco are
numbers 20, 22, and 23 in the Department of Justice (DoJ) list of 51
individuals charged with rebellion due to their alleged involvement in the
failed coup in February 2006. They are all respondents in Criminal Case
No. 2006-994.
Another NDFP consultant, Jose Calubad,
and NDFP staff, Leopoldo Ancheta, were abducted in separate occasions in
2006. Calubad's son, Gabriel, was abducted together with his father.
Families of Calubid, Calubad, Limjoco and Ancheta have filed petitions
for habeas corpus before the Supreme Court but the military has repeatedly
denied that the communist leaders are in their custody. No case has been
solved thus far.
Summary execution
In a statement released to media on
March 8, NDF-Eastern Visayas accused the 19th Infantry
Battalion of the Philippine Army (IB PA) and the 8th Internal Security
Unit-Internal Security Group (ISU-ISG) for the "treacherous murder" of a
suspected NPA leader in the region, Antonio Ramos, on Feb. 26 in Jaro,
province of Leyte.
NDF-EV
spokesperson Fr. Santiago Salas said in the statement that Ramos was
"captured alive past 7 a.m. at a military checkpoint, but was killed about
two hours later on the contrived story that he attempted to seize a gun
from his custodians while on their way to the 19th IB headquarters in the
town of Kananga, Leyte."
Salas charged that Ramos was summarily
executed in the same way as Bibiano Rentillosa, another NPA leader in the
region, last Sept. 11, 2006 in the same town.
Mentally-impaired
Meanwhile, a separate statement
released by the Alejandro Lanaja Command of the NPA in southern Mindanao
said soldiers of the 28th Infantry Battalion-1001st Brigade of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines' (AFP) Eastern Mindanao Command, together with
elements of the paramilitary "tribal force" organized by the AFP summarily
executed a mentally-impaired son of a farmer in Barangay (village)
Banglasan, Montevista, Compostela Valley province on March 4.
The victim, 21-year old Raul Adlawan,
was mentally-impaired the statement said.
Witnesses said Adlawan was "foraging
for edible shells" when the soldiers engaged a group of NPA guerillas in a
firefight. The clash killed two government agents and wounded three
others. No casualties were report on the NPA said.
Adlawan failed to return that night,
witnesses further said. His bullet-riddled body was found by relatives and
neighbors only on March 7.
IHL violations
The CPP has denounced these acts as
clear violations of international covenants on human rights and articles
of war to which the Philippine government is a signatory.
Rosal has called on the military to
immediately surface Velasco and all other CPP leaders and NDFP consultants
who have been recently abducted by state security agents in separate
incidents around the country.
The CPP spokesman also called on the
Macapagal-Arroyo government to respect the victims' rights under "the
pertinent provisions of the Geneva Conventions and Protocols, as well as
the GRP-NDFP agreements including the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect
for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and the
Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG). He demanded
that they be immediately surfaced and released."
As accredited consultants to the peace
negotiations, they are guaranteed immunity from arrest under the Joint
Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), he said.
Bulatlat
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