Fascist state on a rampage:
Murder cases filed against the military

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

The office of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) has been swamped with cases filed against government forces for violating provisions of the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). Most prominent were 51 murder cases filed for killings perpetrated by the government's military, police and paramilitary troops.

First case. The very first to file a murder case with the JMC was Dee Batnag-Ayroso whose husband Honorio, a Bayan Muna (BM) member, was abducted by five suspected elements of the 71st IB in Mu�oz, Nueva Ecija on February 9, 2002. He was seized together with Johnny Orcino, BM coordinator for Nueva Ecija. The two are missing to date.

Mindoro. Murder cases were filed against Brig. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. for killings committed when he was still commander of the 204th Bde in Mindoro. The cases were filed by Orly Marcellana, Roseann Gumanoy and Edilberto Napoles Sr., relatives of victims killed in Mindoro on Palparan's orders. Orly is the husband of KARAPATAN-ST secretary- general Eden Marcellana while Roseann is the daughter of Southern Tagalog peasant leader Eddie Gumanoy. Marcellana and Gumanoy were abducted and executed by the military in April 2003. Edilberto Napoles Sr. is the father of Edilberto "Choy" Napoles Jr., BM coordinator for Mindoro Oriental who was murdered in March 2002. Nympha Magsino and Edilberta Ma�ano also filed separate murder cases against Col. Fernando Masa, who replaced Palparan as 204th Bde commander. Magsino is the sister-in-law of slain Naujan, Mindoro Oriental vice mayor Juvy Magsino while Ma�ano is the mother of Anakpawis coordinator for Mindoro Oriental Isaias Ma�ano.The victims were both slain in the heat of the 2004 electoral campaign.

Up to 36 murder cases in Mindoro Oriental were filed against the military by Girlie Padilla, acting secretary-general of the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP). One case involved the murder of Leonardo Rodriguez, a peasant organizer.

Mawab Four and others. KARAPATAN-Southern Mindanao secretary-general Ariel Casilao filed ten cases in behalf of murder victims from the region. One case was filed against Lt. Col. Edgardo Gonzales, commander of the 60th IB of the Philippine Army, who is held responsible for the "Mawab Four Massacre." He has been identified as the brains behind the summary execution of Godofredo Guimbaolibot, Roland Jubajib, Engr. Edwin Asion and Mariano Diamante in Mawab, Compostela Valley. Gonzales is also held responsible for the "Laac Massacre" in Davao del Norte and the forcible evacuation of townspeople in New Bataan, Compostela Valley.

The following are some of the other cases filed by KARAPATAN-Southern Mindanao:

• Against Maj. Nixon Fortes, in relation to the "Baganga Massacre" in Davao Oriental on August 18, 2003. Among the victims were three minors.
• Against Col. Alen Capuyan, former chief of the Military Intelligence Group (MIG) in relation to the "Maco Four Massacre" in 2003. Four members of Anak ng Bayan �Marjorie Reynoso, Lito Doydoy, Jonathan Benro and Ramon Ragare Jr.�were abducted and summarily killed by the military in Maco, Compostela Valley.
• Against the paramilitary elements who murdered Benjaline Hernandez and three others in April 2002 in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato. Hernandez, former president of the regional chapter of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), was an official of KARAPATAN-Southern Mindanao when she was murdered.

InPeace (Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao) also filed murder cases against the military in the name of the bombing victims at the Davao Domestic Airport and Sasa Wharf in 2003.

MEANWHILE, in Quezon, heinous violations of human rights continue without letup, with activists and members of progressive parties and organizations as the main targets. The latest incident occurred on June 18 in Pagbilao, Quezon with the murder of Merle Catabay, a 40-year old Bayan Muna campaigner. Catabay was shot at close range by two suspected military elements in the market of Peninsula Homes Subdivision in Barangay Bukal.According to witnesses, the perpetrators fled aboard a white van without license plates.

This new incidence of violence brings to four the number of Bayan Muna members slain in Pagbilao during the election period. The first three murder victims were Roger Perez, Belen Ysrael and Conrado Katigbak. Perez's wife Cristina escaped death when the couple was shot at near their home a few days before the election.

Four other activists in Pagbilao survived attempts on their lives while two others were abducted and are still missing.

21 June 2004
English Edition

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