Army commander nilikida ng NPA
Nina D. Garcia/A. Agustin
Hataw – www.hatawtabloid.com
Lunes, Agosto 30, 2010
BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental – Nilikida ng hinihinalang mga miyembro ng New Peoples Army ang isang Army detachment commander, kinubkob ang military outpost at tinangay ang 23 high-powered firearms sa Bgy. Bugang, Toboso, Negros Occidental kamakalawa ng hapon, ayon sa ulat na nakarating sa Philippine Army kahapon.
Ayon kay Major General Vicente Porto, Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division commander, si SSgt. Ephraim Bagunoc at kanyang mga tauhan ay pabalik sa kanilang detachment mula sa pagpapatrolya nang harangin sila ng grupo ng mga rebelde.
Ang mga rebelde ay nagkunwaring mga miyembro ng Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at nakasuot ng police uniforms.
Pagkaraa’y tinutukan sila ng baril at sapilitang pinasakay sa red van patungo sa kanilang detachment.
At sila’y sinundan ng 20 armadong rebeldeng nakasuot ng fatigue uniforms lulan ng dump truck.
Ngunit hindi sila pinapasok ng government militiamen na nakabantay sa detachment na nagresulta sa palitan ng putok.
Bunsod nito, napilitan ang mga rebelde na barilin si Bagunoc sa ulo sa harap ng kanyang mga tauhan.
Sugatan sa insidente ang dalawang miyembro ng Civilian Auxiliary Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu) na sina Jemar Villanueva at Ariel Solitario.
Matapos ito, sinunog ng mga rebelde ang tatlong bunkers ng detachment at tinangay ang 23 high-powered firearms.
Army slams NPA rebels on extra-judicial killings
By Juan Escandor Jr.
Bicol Mail – www.bicolmail.com
Thursday, September 2, 2010
PILI, Camarines Sur--- Amidst the spate of killings that left dead a score of innocent civilians and government troopers during the past months, an Army general slammed Wednesday the New People’s Army rebels for certain human rights violations as the world celebrated the International Humanitarian Law last month.
Major Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the 9th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, scored the NPA rebels for the extra-judicial killing this year of 18 civilians, eight members of Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu), four Army soldiers and one policeman.
Pabustan said the “murderous attacks” by the NPA rebels against unarmed civilians and off-duty government forces while on off-duty were needlessly intended to show the supposed strength of the rebel movement in Bicol.
He warned Army soldiers not to put their guards down at all times because he said the NPA rebels would always grab any opportunity to bolster their self-proclaimed image as a force to reckon with in the region.
Pabustan added the number of killings attributed to NPA attacks in 2010 have claimed 31 lives at the end of August this year while 52 were recorded last year, 30 of which were civilians suspected of being military spies.
“The suspected NPA rebels have ended the International Humanitarian Law Month with a series of extra-judicial killings victimizing mostly civilians,” said Col. Leoncio Cirunay, spokesperson of the 9th ID.
Cirunay said the latest victim was a 60-year-old civilian named Joaquin Candea of Cogon, Bulusan, Sorsogon who was believed gunned down by suspected NPA rebels at about 2:15 p.m. last August 29.
“The killing of Candea occurred a day after the deadly ambush on Saturday, August 28, which claimed five civilians, including an incumbent councilor in Masbate. The victims were waylaid by suspected NPA rebels who were employed by political opponents to eliminate rivals in San Pascual, Masbate,” he claimed.
Cirunay further claimed the suspected NPA rebels shot dead a certain Virgilio Sus and critically wounded his brother Arnel at around 6:00 a.m. in Danao, Bulan, Sorsogon last August 26.
He said the suspected NPA rebels who attacked the Sus brothers were identified by witnesses as Angel and Jerome Gracilla while two other companions remained unidentified.
Cirunay also accused the NPA rebels of killing Maritess Toldanes, 52, barangay chair of Pulang Daga, Balatan, Camarines Sur on June 27 and another female victim named Imelda Velasco-Madrilejos, 42, on May 24 in Managa-naga, Aroroy, Masbate.
Velasco-Madrilejos, he disclosed, was an older sister of Private First Class Gene Velasco.
Cirunay said the 22nd Infantry Battalion had lost eight Cafgu members this year due to extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the NPA rebels.
“All of the killings of the Cafgu members were done when they were on their 15-day monthly off-duty status. Militiamen are not allowed to carry their firearms during their off-duty days and the NPA rebels take advantage of this,” he asserted.
Cirunay lambasted the NPA rebels for engaging in plain banditry where the loot lined the pockets of the rebels themselves.
“Sowing fear among the people is seen as an effective way to force the people to pay the rebels’ extortion demands passed off as revolutionary tax,” he added.
Tumanggi sa NPA itinumba
Ni Ed Casulla
Pilipino Star Ngayon – www.philstar.com
Biyernes, Setyembre 03, 2010
CAMP SIMEON OLA, Legazpi City, Philippines — Isang 19-anyos na magsasaka na sinasabing tumangging sumapi sa mga rebeldeng New People’s Army ang pinagbababaril hanggang sa mapatay kamakalawa ng hapon sa Sitio Kanggito, Barangay Bangao sa bayan ng Baleno, Masbate. Kinilala ang nasawi na si Noel Germina ng Barangay Madangcalan sa nabanggit na bayan. Lumilitaw sa imbestigasyon ng pulisya, abala sa pagsasaka sa palayan ang biktima nang ratratin ng grupo ng rebelde. Napag-alamang hinihikayat ng mga rebelde ang biktima na sumapi sa kanilang kilusan subalit nagdesisyon ang binata na manatili na lamang bilang magsasaka.
Military Cites Trooper's Heroism
By Malu Cadelina Manar
The Manila Bulletin – www.mb.com.ph
September 11, 2010
KIDAPAWAN CITY – A wounded paramilitary trooper received on Friday a medal from the Army’s 10th Infantry Division (ID) for his heroism during last week’s attack launched against them by suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas.
The Wounded Personnel Medal was awarded to Tino Bangilon, a member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) Active Auxiliary under the Army’s 72nd Infantry Battalion (IB).
The recognition of Bangilon’s heroism was held inside the Camp Panacan Station Hospital in Panacan, Davao City, around 11 a.m., the military report said.
Bangilon, according to Lt. Col. Medel Aguilar of the 10th ID, was wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in Barangay Mapula in Paquibato District, also in Davao City, on September 1.
The soldiers and paramilitary troopers, Bangilon included, were patrolling the area after they received reports of the presence of NPA rebels in the area, when the blast occurred.
Only 4 of 305 cases of unexplained killings resulted in convictions
By Alexis Romero
The Philippine Star
Saturday, September 18, 2010
MANILA, Philippines - Only four of the 305 reported cases of unexplained killings in the country have resulted in convictions since 2001, a study by a human rights lawyer showed.
In his study titled “Report on the Philippine Extrajudicial Killings (2001-August 2010),” Al Parreño of Diaz, Parreño and Caringal law firm noted the figure translates to a “dismal” conviction rate of one percent.
The report said of the 305 incidents of killings, only 161 involving 390 persons have been filed by the prosecution.
The study said most victims (32 percent) were officers and members of activist groups like Bayan Muna and Anakpawis.
Elected officials constitute 15 percent of the victims while journalists and farmers comprise 15 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
Communist rebels make up eight percent of the victims, while the rest were lawyers, judges, and members of religious groups and other sectors.
The bulk of the suspects or 57 percent were unidentified armed men while 19 percent belong to the military. Communist rebels constitute 12 percent while policemen make up nine percent.
The rest of the suspects were militiamen, public officers, or government officials.
“A majority of the cases have not been successfully prosecuted because most of the suspects are still unidentified,” Parreño said.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. maintained that the government does not tolerate such killings.
“It (killings) is never sanctioned by the state, much more the Armed Forces of the Philippines. With this report, we look at it with an open mind so we can use this to better our human rights efforts,” he said.
“We will open our resources for whatever inquiries and investigations that will be conducted specifically by the CHR (Commission on Human Rights),” Mabanta said.
The study showed that Pampanga had the most number of killings with 37, followed by Negros Occidental with 25.
Killings were also reported in Leyte, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Quezon and Davao del Sur.
The report cited the need to come up with an independent watchdog that will monitor killings nationwide.
“The killings... have a chilling effect on the activism of the general public by intimidating essential civil society actors... Thus, we need a proper monitoring agency to look at this looming human rights disaster,” it said.
The study also stressed the need to institutionalize respect for human rights in the military and the police, review the witness protection program, and create a task force to focus on curbing the killings.
CHR tags cop as a serial torturer
By Angela b. Lopez de Leon
Malaya – www.malaya.com.ph
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The Commission on Human Rights yesterday said that Sr. Insp. Joselito Binayug has allegedly tortured four other people aside from the man shown in a video inside a police precinct in Manila.
At an inter-agency case conference at the CHR main office in Quezon City, CHR chair Etta Rosales said Binayug allegedly tortured a certain Christopher Madelo.
She said two women have come forward claiming their husbands were also tortured. The other victim was allegedly a minor.
"In the course of our investigation, it appears that from March up to present, we are now talking of at least five tortured cases, all pointing to Binayug as the torturer," said Rosales.
"It seems that many cases of torture are happening in the area of Tondo," she added.
The minor, according to Owen de Luna, director of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) Investigation, Monitoring and Inspection Services, was a 16-year-old suspected burglar.
He said the mother has already given them the result of a medico legal report indicating that her son was tortured.
"We already saw the scars on his skin. Medyo marami siyang peklat (scars) dahil sa pagkaka-torture sa kanya," De Luna said.
De Luna refused to name the victim since he is a minor.
The torture video that was leaked to the media showed a police officer cursing and whipping the suspect while pulling on a rope that was tied to the victim’s genitals.
The video was shown on video sharing websites such as YouTube and made it to some international news websites.
Suspicion immediately fell on Binayug and his men after it was recognized that the torture was held at the Asuncion community police precinct in Tondo.
At least two families have come forward claiming that the victim in the torture video was their relative.
The first, a certain Anna, the wife of 30-year-old Darius Evangelista, who has been missing since March 5, 2010, has filed charges against Binayug and his men before the Commission on Human Rights for violating the Anti-Torture Act of 2009.
The other family claimed the torture victim was Vicente Orbigo, who was allegedly killed during a shootout with Binayug and his men on August 13, 2010.
The NBI agreed with the earlier police autopsy that Orbigo’s body bore signs of torture, and that his genitals were also bound with a rope.
The Napolcom yesterday came out with a different report from the NBI, NCRPO, and MPD on the identity of the tortured victim in the video.
The Napolcom identified the torture victim as Evangelista, while the NBI, NCRPO, and MPD came out with a report identifying the victim as Orbigo.
The NBI said they will summon Orbigo’s half-sister Sheryl Orbigo Galang and half-brother Bobby Manabat Galera to the preliminary investigation at the Department of Justice on Sept. 27.
