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Thursday, May 25, 2006
Bukidnon guv slams gov't adviser on graves
By Danilo V. Adorador III and Bong Torres
A FUMING Bukidnon Governor Jose Ma. Zubiri Jr. lashed out at National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales concerning his allegations of the presence of mass graves in the province.
During a press conference held in Bukidnon, Zubiri said Gonzales is "peddling lies in the national media" concerning the presence of the graves, which supposedly contain the remains of suspected informers of the military killed by New People's Army (NPA) rebels.
Zubiri cited a Philippine Daily Inquirer report based on Gonzales's assertion that the military had found mass graves in Kibongkog, San Fernando town.
The photographed graveyard, in fact, Zubiri said, was a native cemetery in that town.
"Secretary Gonzales is a liar. He has done our province a terrible damage and an apology is not enough," he told local broadcasters in a gathering in Malaybalay City Monday.
Zubiri said he was concerned that the report may harm the province's campaign to attract investors.
The human rights group Karapatan said the mass graves are "fake" and is being used by government to create public hysteria and deflect issues hounding its officials.
"This ruse has been a predictable pattern used by the government every time it is criticized for its failure to provide the people with basic social services," Karapatan lawyer Beverly Musni said.
Groups such as Karapatan have been accused by the military of having links to the communist rebel movement.
However, Musni said they and other groups would not give a grain of salt to calls by some government officials for them to disavow links with the communist rebel movement.
Issuing such a disclaimer, she said, would be an act of "foolishness" and "runs contrary to the presumption of innocence clause provided in the Constitution."
"We would not succumb to a diabolical trap designed to silence us," she said.
The military and the communist rebels have recently stepped up their propaganda war against each other with the militants accused by the military of siding with the rebels.
The military alleged that the graves found in Kibongkong, Bukidnon province that also contain the remains of rebels suspected to be informers of the military form part of the "ahos" or purging of ranks by the communist front.
United Church of Christ in the Philippines-Bukidnon Conference Minister Reverend Goel Bagundol alleged their member, Kibongkong barangay chairman Jimmy Arion, and his wife Nena Arion were forced by the military to sign an affidavit, a charge denied by the military.
The military had also blamed the communist rebels for masterminding the murders of three NPA rebels in Mt. Balatukan Complex, Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental after the latter were reportedly set to surrender to the government.
Eighth Infantry Batallion commanding officer Colonel Andrelino Colina said they have enough evidence to point out that it was indeed the rebels who were responsible for the killings.
(May 25, 2006 issue)
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