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Saturday, April 26, 2003
DOJ eyes 5 suspects in Mindoro murders
By Benjamin B. Pulta
EIGHT witnesses to the killing of two human rights activists allegedly by local military units last week in Mindoro Oriental are being screened for possible admission into the government witness protection program, a senior justice official said Friday.
Witness Benefits Security and Protection Program Chief and Justice Undersecretary Jose C. Calida Friday said they are not inclined towards accepting claims made by some sectors that vigilantes were behind the killings.
"We are not buying the vigilante group angle," he said, adding that such groups rarely act alone without a leader. Calida said they have already filed a recommendation to Malacanang on "at least five" suspects in the killings whom he declined to name.
"We are in the documentation process. We are, likewise, looking into the possibility of including eight witnesses in the witness program," Calida revealed.
"We believe that in a short time we will resolve this case completely," Calida opined, adding that the confidential report submitted to the Palace was prepared mostly through the assistance of Mindoro Gov. Bart Marasigan.
The remains of victims Elaine Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy were found Tuesday in a bamboo grove a few meters from a highway in Bansud town in the island province.
Meanwhile, a church group released a statement Friday calling on the DOJ to order the arrest of Col. Jovito Palparan's special agent, Aniano "Silver" Flores, apparently in connection with the killing.
In an e-mailed statement, Rev. Fr. Allan Jose Arcebuche (OFM), spokesperson of the Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR), said rescued victims recognized Silver as among those who ambushed the five human rights activists since he did not wear a bonnet like his henchmen.
Marcellana and Gumanoy were among five activists abducted in Naujan town last Monday by masked men claiming to be anti-communist vigilantes while they were on a fact-finding mission looking into allegations of military abuses in Oriental Mindoro.
Party-list group Bayan Muna said Marcellana was supposed to testify at the Commission on Appointments (CA) against the promotion of Col. Jovito Palparan, commander of the Army’s 204th Infantry Brigade, whom militant groups call the "Butcher of Mindoro."
Bayan Muna has filed a formal opposition to Palparan’s promotion with the CA, according to its secretary-general Robert de Castro. "Palparan was aware of her (Marcellana’s) role in exposing his exploits in Oriental Mindoro," he said.
Three others remain missing. They are Francisco Saez and Melvin Jocson, provincial coordinators of the peasant-workers’ group Anakpawis in Oriental Mindoro, and Virgilio Catoy, a member of the award-winning audio-visual group ST-Exposure.
PCPR's Arcebuche said Silver is under the payroll of Palparan's 204th Infantry Brigade and has been known as a rebel-turned-military agent.
Silver was repeatedly identified by witnesses as the triggerman in the killings of Edilberto "Choy" Napoles, the Albarillo couple and other Bayan Muna leaders in Oriental Mindoro, Arcebuche said.
The said case, however, was dismissed by the DOJ during the time of Justice Secretary Hernando B. Perez for alleged "insufficiency of evidence."
"Just like in the Napoles murder case, we believe that Palparan directly ordered Silver in the abduction and summary execution of Eden and Eddie. In light of the Marcellana-Gumanoy murder that again involved Silver, we call on DOJ Undersecretary Calida to immediately review and reconsider the DOJ resolution on the Napoles case, which exempted Palparan and M/Sgt. Rizal "Larry" Hilario from criminal accountability. We look forward to the day when Palparan, Silver and all their fellow murderers will be justly prosecuted and punished,” PCPR stated.
The DOJ resolution, dated August 28, 2002, dismissed for "insufficiency of evidence" the murder and frustrated murder charges against Silver's principals, Palparan and Hilario.
(April 26, 2003 issue)
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