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Friday, June 02, 2006
Palace vows to punish killers of activists, journalists
MANILA -- Malacañang said there are no sacred cows in government and that the axe would fall on those behind the spate of media and militant killings regardless of position in the government, military, police, or status in society.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo does not condone the killings and she is very much concerned by the incidents.
Ermita said Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno formed Task Force Usig following Arroyo's order to immediately resolve the cases.
"The rule of law must prevail. We cannot allow anybody to get out of control, especially if there are laws being violated, especially on matters of taking the lives of other people. Whoever they are, no one is above the law," he said.
He added they are also inviting Human Rights Commissioner Purificacion Quisumbing to meet with the officials of the police and the military to be properly oriented on how the investigations are conducted and at the same time be updated on their findings.
Ermita denied he had anything to do with the killings despite being deputy chief of staff of the Armed Forces during the time of former President Corazon Aquino.
Both the police and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) revealed that the recent spate of killings is reminiscent of the situation during the 1980s, particularly from 1986 to 1989, where a spate of labor and militant killings and several attempted power grabs occurred.
Ermita said he was the author of Republic Act (RA) 1700 that decriminalized subversive organizations like the CPP and to mastermind or orchestrate militant killings would go against the essence of what he advocated when he sponsored the law when he was still a congressman.
He added that the CPP is probably just trying to even the "score" by linking him to the incidents.
Asked if he believes the police's version that the group of former senator Gregorio Honasan might have something to do with the killings, Ermita said the police are still looking at the possible patterns and comparing the events that happened in the 1980s to the present situation.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the military and police would continue to operate under the rule of law, adding the administration has a strong record of acting sternly and swiftly against rogue cops or soldiers.
Secretary Puno, meanwhile, met Wednesday night with his former colleagues in Congress belonging to militant party-list groups to help find ways to resolve the killings.
In his meeting with leaders of party-list groups led by House deputy minority leader and Bayan Muna president Satur Ocampo, Puno stressed that "although the government may not agree with militant groups on political issues, it is one with them in protecting and upholding every Filipino's right to express his or her views."
Puno, who was a member of Congress representing the 1st district of Antipolo before he took the interior portfolio, also reassured his former colleagues that the government "was doing the best it can" to determine who were responsible for the killings of militant leaders and bring the criminals to justice.
"We are one in saying that these killings should stop. I told them that they can trust the government in resolving the cases involving these killings because we will bring to justice whoever is responsible for these crimes," Puno said,
Also present at the meeting, which lasted for over an hour at the North Wing VIP Room of the Batasan Complex, were party-list Representatives Teodoro Casiño and Joel Virador of Bayan Muna, Liza Maza of Gabriela, and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis.
Ocampo said his group, collectively known as the "Batasan 5," welcomed the move by Puno to initiate dialogues with militant party-list organizations to find ways of resolving the cases of killings involving their members and expressed the hope that communication lines would continue to be open between them.
Puno said that the concerns and views expressed by Ocampo and other party-list leaders would be taken into consideration in the ongoing investigation being conducted by Task Force Usig on cases involving the murders of members of militant groups.
He likewise hoped that his initial meeting with the leaders of militant party-list organizations would lead to a series of dialogues with them on finding ways to put a stop to the killings.
Puno made it clear that no one would be spared in the ongoing probe led by PNP Deputy Director General Avelino Razon Jr., even as he pointed out that in cases involving the killings of journalists where members of DILG-attached agencies are involved, his office did not waste time in filing cases against the killers.
He cited he case of slain former Puerto Princesa vice mayor and radio commentator Fernando "Dong" Batul, wherein one of those allegedly involved was a police officer, and the murder of photojournalist Alberto Orsolino in Caloocan City, where five officials of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) were identified as suspects by a PNP task force investigating the killing. (JMR with DILG press release/Sunnex)
(June 2, 2006 issue)
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US 'concerned' about murders