FASCIST STATE ON A RAMPAGE
Desperate to remain in power, the Estrada regime has committed an average of one human rights violation per day. This includes ruthless attacks of the regime on an increasing number of anti-Estrada elements that are a threat to Estrada�s stay in office: cases of abduction, harassment of witnesses in the ongoing impeachment trial, violent dispersal of pickets, rallies and other actions of the united anti- Estrada front in the cities.
The continuous implementation of an all-out and destructive counterrevolutionary war in the countryside proves the falsity of the AFP�s unilaterally-declared Suspension of Offensive Military Operations or SOMO. Meanwhile, it is clear that the recent promise to release hundreds of political prisoners as a result of a �peace pact� between the government and revisionist renegades is all for show. As of October, records show that a total of 212 political prisoners were being detained in various parts of the country.
Estrada also remains apathetic in granting compensation and indemnification to 9,539 victims of human rights violations during the Marcos dictatorship.
Following are some of the human rights violations perpetrated by the US-Estrada regime from September to December 2000:
December 26. Summary execution of relatives Luis and Roger dela Cruz by troops of the 54th IB headed by 2Lt. Michael Glen Manansala in Sitio Sangaydi, Barangay Villa Gracia, Maddela,Quirino. The two civilians were shot to death on mere suspicion that they were NPA fighters after soldiers failed to annihilate a group of NPA guerrillas they had encountered in the area.
December 11. Violent dispersal of the picket of the Unyong Cottrell Network Phils.-Metal Industries Inc., by armed guards from a security agency owned by Mayor Oscar Jaro of Imus, Cavite in Trece Martirez, Cavite City and the ruthless shooting of Diosdado Marquez and Primo Fabricante, members of the union opposing the illegal layoff of 41 of Cottrell�s 80 workers.
On December 13, the local police of Trece Martirez reinforced the guards to suppress around 150 demonstrators condemning the violent dispersal of the workers� picket.
November 27. Forced evacuation of around 50 families due to continuous bombing by soldiers of the 2nd ID of sitios Montililian, Bua and Mokahil of Barangay Pandan and sitios Tuquian and Bangkod of Barangay Kaskas, all of Ligao, Albay. This was in retaliation for an NPA raid on a detatchment of the 22nd IB in Barangay Kaskas on November 26.
November 20. Murder of Olimpio Jalapit Jr., a broadcaster of RMN in Pagadian City and a known critic of the Estrada regime. Even Jalapit�s cousin who witnessed the crime was threatened by the culprits.
November 15. Violent dispersal of a barricade of around 200 workers of the Light Rail Transit and supporters from the youth and workers� sector by elements from the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and PNP and hired guards headed by S/Supt. Manuel Cabigon.
The strikers were truncheoned. Thirteen were arrested and charged with trespassing and malicious mischief.
November 14. Violent dispersal of an anti-Estrada rally of around 50 members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association or PALEA by the airport police headed by Airport Police Chief Edgar Gatumbao and private guards in the departure area of the NAIA Centennial Terminal II. Workers Jimmy Nakar and George dela Rosa suffered head injuries.
November 12. The massacre of five members of the Eleccio family by an anti-communist armed cult organized by brothers of the notorious Norberto Manero. They shot to death Luzviminda Eleccio, 35 years old; her children Richard, 16; Gemma, 18 and her fianc� Allan Seroco, 34; and Luzviminda�s nephew Benjie Sujede, 5 years old, in their house at Barangay Lasak, Columbio, Sultan Kudarat. The lone survivor was the wounded Geronimo Eleccio, Luzviminda�s husband and suspected supporter of the revolutionary movement . The Manero brothers also threatened to ambush the priests of Columbio, Sultan Kudarat for allegedly supporting the NPA.
Last week of November. Troops of the 54th IB forced prisoners of war Mar �Ka Mar� Rodriguez and JR �Ka CJ� Bulosan to serve as guides in military operations. The two are NPA guerrillas captured in Echague, Isabela on November 18.
October 23. Dispersal of more than 50 members of the July 10 Payatas Victims organization (J10PVO) by elements of the SWAT and PNP. The J10PVO was scheduled to hold camp around the Quezon City Hall for a week to protest the continuous delay in the release of the remains of their relatives who died when they were buried under tons of garbage on July 10 at the Payatas dumpsite in Quezon City.
Since the third week of November, military and psywar operations have persisted in the countryside, cities and town centers of Cagayan Valley particularly in places where protest actions are usually launched. According to a statement from the Benito Tesorio Command of the NPA in Northeastern Luzon, the AFP and PNP are desperately preventing widespread mass actions against the regime. Along with this, the 270 CAFGU elements in Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino and Nueva Vizcya are being fortified and augmented. Manila , Southern Tagalog and other major towns all over the country are havens for continued surveillance operations. In the latter part of October, the illegal surveillance by members of the AFP on progressive and militant organizations in Southern Tagalog, including the office of the Alyansa sa Pagsusulong ng Karapatan ng Mamamayan sa Timog Katagalugan, was reported. Similarly, the offices of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines in Imus, Cavite and the Katipunan ng Samahang Magbubukid sa Los Ba�os, Laguna, were blatantly subjected to surveillance. Recently, a group of unknown men barged in, insistently inquiring about the identities of men who frequented these offices.
The AFP�s illegal surveillance of the leaders and members of the movement for the ouster of the USEstrada regime, as well as of anti-Estrada senators and personalities, has been exposed. The targets are subjected to electronic surveillance (through monitoring of telephone conversations, among others) conducted from socalled �war rooms� at Camps Crame and Aguinaldo.
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS UNDER THE US-ESTRADA REGIME FROM JANUARY - NOVEMBER 2000
Human rights violations - 436
Illegal arrest and detention - 85 cases, 269 victims, 1 barangay
Desaparecidos and salvaging - 17 cases, 39 victims
Massacre - 5 incidents, 45 victims, 18 survivors
and 321 cases of strafing, frustrated and attempted murder, abduction, harrasment, illegal search and looting, coercion, illegal interrogation, bombing, surveillance, sexual abuse, violation of international humanitarian law, evacuation, destruction of property and hamletting, which victimized 39,000 individuals aside from 20 barangays from January to November 2000. (Data from Karapatan)
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