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DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 13 Jul) – Maoist rebels freed a kidnapped village leader and his son they accused as behind the murder of seven people in the southern Philippines.

Police on Thursday said some 30 heavily armed New People’s Army rebels seized the duo after they were implicated in the killings in the village of Manuel Peralta in Malita town in Davao del Sur province early this week.

The two men were put on trial by the NPA and they denied all accusations against them. Dozens of villagers also appealed to the NPA to free the father and son and said they did nothing wrong.
Police said the rebels belonged to the NPA’s Front Committee 71.

The NPA, which is fighting for a Maoist state in the Philippines, previously abducted and killed civilians suspected as military spy and abusive government officials and soldiers. (Romy Bwaga)

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 03 Jun) – Katulad ng inaasahan, mariing itinanggi ng Philippine Navy na pinahirapan at binugbog ng intelligence agents nito ang isang pastor ng United Church of Christ of the Philippines na si Berlin Guerrero na pinagbintangan miyembro ng rebeldeng New People’s Army.

Ang mouthpiece ng Armed Forces na si Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro ang mismong nagsabi na base sa inisyal na resulta ng pagsisiyasat ng Navy sa nasabing alegasyon ay hindi umano ginalaw ng mga sundalo ang pastor makaraang arestuhin ito sa bayan ng Binan sa lalawigan ng Laguna.

Ngunit mismong ang Philippine National Police ang nagsabing walang kinalaman ang ahensya sa alegsasyon ng pagpapahirap sa alagad ng Simbahan.

"The Philippine Navy denied subjecting Pastor Guererro to torture," ani Bacarro. Subalit, tiniyak ng opisyal na handa ang AFP na harapin ang anumang alegasyon ng paglabag sa karapatang pantao.

Inamin rin ng pastor na siya’y pinahirapan at pilit na pinaamin na isang lider ng NPA at isinabit rin ng mga awtoridad ito sa pamamaslang.

"If it is found out that there is torture committed or there is a breach committed by members of the Philippine Navy, this will be subject to sanction, administratively and criminally," dagdag ni Bacarro.

Naunang sinabi ng pamilya ng pastor na ito'y dinukot ng mga sundalo. Agad naman ipinasa ng Navy sa pulisya ang pastor matapos na mag-ingay ang UCCP at mga relihiyosong grupo sa ibang bansa ukol sa pagdukot sa biktima. (Juley Reyes)

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 08 Mar) – Patay ang isang sumukong miyembro ng New People's Army (NPA) matapos likidahin ng kapwa mga komunista sa lalawigan ng Surigao del Sur kagabi.

Sa ulat na nakarating kaninang umaga sa Kampo Aguinaldo ay nakilala ang dating gerilya na si Ronnie Salahay Tagonsulod, 29 anyos at residente ng Carmata, San Miguel sa nasabing lalawigan. Isinakatuparan ang pagpapatumba sa biktimang rebelde sa bisinidad ng Purok 5 malapit sa Barangay Sigao.

Limang tama ng bala ng baril ang tinamo ni Tagonsulod sa ibat-ibang bahagi ng katawan at tinatayang apat na gerilya ang pumaslang sa biktima. Naging aktibo sa NPA si Tagonsulod noong 2000 hanggang 2002 ngunit lumisan sa kilusan dahil sa karamdaman.

Naniniwala ang mga kaanak ng dating komunista na pinagdudahan si Tagonsulod na nagbibigay ng mga impormasyon sa awtoridad kung kayat pinatay ito. (Juley Reyes)

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 23 Feb) - The militant party list group, Bayan Muna, on Friday challenged the Arroyo government to prosecute a retired army commander, Jovito Palparan, linked by an independent commission to the political killings in the Philippines.

"The Melo report is right in pointing Palparan's culpability in the killings of activists, journalists and innocent civilians. The report reaffirms earlier investigations that have long been proving Palparan's hand to all the killings that were perpetrated under his jurisdiction," Bayan Muna Rep. Joel Virador said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

The government put up the Melo Commission to investigate the killings. Militant groups said more than 800 political activists had been killed since President Gloria Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001.

But Palparan, one of the most decorated army general during his time, has repeatedly denied the accusations and pointed to the New People’s Army rebels as behind most of the killings.
Palparan said there were no evidence to link soldiers to the murder of political activists.

“We maintain that the Melo Commission holds no power in decisively resolving the problem on political killings in the country. More so, the report is no better than a vindicating statement for the AFP's high-ranking officials and its commander-in-chief Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. We are not even inclined to believe that said report will practically hold the AFP and the Arroyo regime accountable," Virador said.

U.N. Special Rapporteur Philip Alston who also investigated the killings also blamed the army for most of the murders.

Another party list group, Anakpawis, also condemned the killings and branded the Arroyo government as worst than former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

“The current government of Mrs. Gloria Arroyo has surpassed Marcos' record of fascism and oppression,” said Editha Duterte, the group’s spokesperson in the southern Philippines.

“There are more than 800 victims of political killings since Arroyo assumed power in 2001. Until now, no perpetrators belonging to the military, police, and paramilitary groups, were punished,” she said. (Mindanao Examiner)

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 22 Feb) – The Arroyo administration suffered a major blow following an initial report by the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur Philip Alston that the Philippine Army is “in a state of almost total denial” about the wave of political killings.

Alston said many of the killings have been attributed to soldiers."Mrs. Gloria Arroyo, Malacañang's Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security led by Eduardo Ermita and Norberto Gonzales, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) suffer a great blow with the United Nations' initial findings and recommendations regarding the distressing political killings in the country," Editha Duterte, spokesperson of the militant Anakpawis party-list group, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

She said Alston was convinced that the AFP is culpable to the widespread killings of members of progressive party lists and organizations, including innocent civilians, which is directly in contradiction to the government's claim that the said killings are the result of a purge within the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army.

"Witnesses, families of the victims and survivors have pointed to the military, its agents and the paramilitary groups as the perpetrators. Yet, the Arroyo government made no genuine move to solve the killings, as this is part of its all-out war policy against its critics and opponents under the so-called Oplan Bantay Laya I and Oplan Bantay Laya II."

"The United Nations' findings are points against the current administration which has given an outright license to its armed forces to kill or harass individuals by tagging progressive party-lists and organizations as communist fronts," Duterte said.

Philippine officials said Alston was brainwashed by leftist organizations, but Duterte disagreed.

"The record of human rights violations under the Arroyo administration and the account of witnesses and the victims' families do not lie. One has to be a dimwit if not outright cold-blooded to deny these facts," she said.

Duterte also noted Alston's recommendation of "respecting the law on party-list system" and his special mention of the Anti-Subversion Act."

"Such laws were clearly violated by the Arroyo government as Anakpawis, Bayan Muna, Gabriela Women and their representatives in Congress were maliciously vilified by Malacañang and the AFP," she said.

Duterte added that Malacañang has made trumped up charges of rebellion against party-list Representatives Satur Ocampo, Teddy Casiño, Joel Virador, Crispin Beltran, Rafael Mariano and Liza Maza. Beltran is currently detained on charges of plotting to oust Arroyo.

Philippine military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon on Thursday said he has ordered an investigation into the alleged killings attributed to soldiers. But he also accused the NPA of murdering more than 1,200 soldiers and innocent civilians. (Mindanao Examiner)

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 21 Feb) – A militant party list group, Anakpawis, expressed fear Wednesday that political repression and summary killings will escalate in the Philippines once President Gloria Arroyo signs the Anti-Terror Bill (ATB) into law.

Lawmakers allied with Arroyo approved the ATB in a special session this week.

"As soon as Mrs. Arroyo signs the ATB, political repression and killings will escalate as it would now have legal justification," Editha Duterte, spokesperson for the Anakpawis in the southern Philippines, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

She said hundreds of political activists were killed since Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001.
The human rights group Karapatan says that 832 extra-judicial killings since 2001 can be blamed on the security forces. Of these, it says 356 are left-wing activists.

Authorities tagged militants and progressive groups as fronts of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing the New People’s Army.

“The continuous tagging of the Arroyo government that progressive party lists and organizations are fronts of the armed revolutionary movement gives outright license to its armed forces -- Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and paramilitary groups -- to perpetrate these senseless killings and harassment. The ATB would be the best weapon to quell legitimate dissent,” Duterte said.

A U.N. special rapporteur Philip Alston sent to the Philippines to investigate the killings accused Philippine Army of being “in a state of almost total denial” about the wave of political murder.

According to the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL), the Senate version of anti-terrorism bill, which was adapted by the Lower House during the Bicameral Committee, “contains more repressive provisions on surveillance, opening and freezing of accounts, and other threats on civil liberties which may be used by the executive to persecute dissenters,” she said.

“Most of the provisions are not only constitutionally infirm but also violates the international human rights law and the principles of international criminal law, which makes the Senate version worse than the House bill, or any other law in Philippine legal history,” Duterte said.

Aside from Anakpawis, the militant party list groups Bayan Muna and Gabriela, also opposed the anti-terrorism bill. (Mindanao Examiner)