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Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Provincial Board condones political killings
THE Provincial Board (PB) in its regular Tuesday session, passed a resolution expressing condemnation of the “unabated political killings in the country and urging the National Government for the immediate resolution of these crimes and immediately stop the same."
The board has adopted the resolution of the Executive Board Officers of the Philippine Councilors League (PCL)-Iloilo Chapter stating that there is truth in the “allegations.”
Provincial Board Member Lilia Gonzales, president of the PCL, initiated the passage of the same.
In the resolution, the PCL stated that during President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's term from 2001 up to the present, there had been 720 victims of political killings in the country, including media practitioners.
No proper and serious investigations have been conducted by government agencies to solve their heinous crimes, it added.
It further stated, “All victims from political groups or from the media and their families are critical to the present administration; and non-resolution of these crimes may lead to the aggravation of human rights and violations in particular and to the peace and order of the country in general.”
Board Member Niel Tupas Jr. demanded that specific killings should be cited next time when passing a resolution such as this.
International team
Meanwhile, the military on Tuesday welcomed an investigation by an international fact-finding team on the spate of killings of leftist militants, which are being blamed on government soldiers.
Armed Forces public information office chief Bartolome Bacarro said the military establishment is open to the investigation by representatives from foreign countries if they are sanctioned by the Philippine Government.
“If the government leadership would decide that it would be welcome and they (investigators) will be assisted by government, then of course the Armed Forces would support that,” Bacarro said.
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said three countries have been invited to join an international fact-finding team that would look into the recent rash of extra-judicial killings.
Gonzales said the three countries were invited upon the request of representatives of the government and some non-governmental organizations (NGOs). He declined to name the countries until they have responded to the invitation.
Gonzales said the measure is a better alternative than the proposal of the National Democratic Front (NDF) to the government to jointly investigate the killings. Army Chief Romeo Tolentino has opposed the NDF proposal.
But Bacarro said the Armed Forces would not be in a position to decide if the international fact-finding is acceptable or not.
Nevertheless, Bacarro took time in parrying allegations by militant groups that the military was behind the killing of its officials and members even as he challenged them to file charges in court if they have evidence.
He also took a dig at a survey conducted by a left-leaning organization that projected that the military was indeed involved in the killings saying “we don’t resolve issues by conducting surveys, would it resolve the issue?”
“There is a legal process and we are following our legal process. If they have evidence then the Armed Forces would provide them assistance. We would provide assistance in furtherance of the investigation, to pursue the investigation but if they don’t have any evidence, then I think it would be very, very unfair to attribute all of the killings or the killings to the military,” he said.
Among the military officials consistently being linked to the killings is Major General Jovito Palparan, commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division based in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija. Palparan has denied the charges against him. (LABB/Sunnex)
(August 9, 2006 issue)
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