Sunday, August 31, 2008 Malilong: We investigated Balamban massacre By Frank Malilong The Other Side
UNLESS there was another massacre in Mayana, Gaas, Balamban in 1985 that I did not read about, the case that the police now wants reopened must be the same one that a panel from the police, the Archdiocese of Cebu and the Integrated Bar investigated that same year.
I should know because I was involved in the fact-finding inquiry commissioned by Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, then Central Visayas PC-INP regional director Brig. Gen. Edgardo Abenina and then Cebu City IBP president Danilo Deen. The other members of the panel included lawyers Merong Estenzo, Eddie Rosello and Mario de la Victoria, Msgr. Achilles Dakay and Abenina’s deputy, Col. Mariano Bacay Jr.
Our investigation required an ocular inspection of the scene of the mass murder. There was no trans-central road at that time so we had to be flown by helicopter to Gaas from where we took an almost two-hour walk on a narrow and winding trail to Mayana.
I remember the steep climb towards the house where the victims were sleeping on the night before they were murdered. Approaching the house, policemen in the lead group saw a red figure in the yard and dropped to the ground. I clumsily followed suit, at once regretting my decision not to join Danny and Merong at the rear. It turned out that the “red figure” was a shirt that was hung to dry.
I remember Mayor Alex Binghay for the small brandy jug that he carried in his pocket; the priest from Buanoy whose name I can no longer recall for the “dancing shoes” that he wore during the hike; and the GMA7 cameraman who slipped during our descent from the crime scene but never let go of his equipment. Most of all, I remember the stench from the decomposing bodies after they were dug up for examination.
Among the victims were children. All of them were buried in a mass grave in the yard of Mauricio Anugot. They were all killed early in the morning just after the cocks had crowed the second time, according to one witness.
There were conflicting claims as to who killed them. Militant groups accused the military, the police and the anti-communist forces because the Anugots were suspected to have been New People’s Army supporters. The military said it was an NPA rubout.
We conducted our hearings in the city. We took the sworn statements of witnesses all of whom were subjected to intense questioning by the panel. I’d like to think that we did a thorough and professional job.
At the end of our investigation, we submitted our findings and recommendations to the police, the Archdiocese and the IBP. There must still be a copy on file with any or all of these offices now. That could be a good starting point for any reinvestigation.
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Mayor Tomas Osmeña isn’t happy with the quality of service at the Cebu City Medical Center and is expressing his displeasure in the strongest way possible: he will sell the hospital.
Abolishing a company or a division that is under-performing is a basic tool in business management and I think that principle should apply regardless of whether the entity’s reason for being is profit or service.
The city hospital is already a part of the city’s history but if it continues to wallow in the same culture that the mayor finds unacceptable, then it would perhaps be better to make the institution itself history.
