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Monday, January 29, 2007
Raps pushed v. military involved in slays
MANILA -- Chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Apostol Jr. on Sunday said the military should have a strong case against erring members who may be involved in extrajudicial killings following the findings of the Melo Commission.
Apostol said the military leadership should use the recommendations of the commission in conducting a deeper investigation leading to the eventual prosecution of their members.
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"The recommendation of the commission will help the (military) to build a strong case. (Military officials) could conduct their own investigation and I think they have to follow the recommendation of the Melo commission," he said.
He added that the appropriate agencies should also work on the dismantling of private armies, which were also among those blamed for the series of extrajudicial killings.
"That is part of the President's order, to dismantle private armies involved in criminal activities," Apostol said.
Catholic Bishop Juan De Dios Pueblos, a member of the commission created by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to investigate the series of killings of leftist activists, journalists and public officials, said they have already submitted their findings and recommendations.
De Dios Pueblos did not give any specific details but said the military, private "goons" of some politicians, the New People's Army (NPA) and their militant fronts were all involved in the killings.
He said among the measures that they recommended was to make military officers culpable for murders carried out by their soldiers based on the principle of command responsibility.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, for his part, asked the Catholic bishops to urge militant groups to cooperate and assist the investigations in any way they can to ensure the immediate resolution of the series of extrajudicial killings.
Ermita said only members of the military hierarchy participated in investigations, particularly those conducted by the Melo Commission.
He said this is also the reason why there was hype that only the military were involved.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) criticized the government for its continued disregard of the extrajudicial killings, sorry plight of squatters who are victims of cruel demolition and eviction, and failure of the administration to alleviate rural poverty due to the failed implementation of the land reform program.
"The lack of vigor and determination shown by the government in its poor implementation of the law mirrors the still overpowering opposition of the landed classes, the traditional political and economic elite of our country," said Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, vice president of the CBCP, reading a statement from the group.
Ledesma said the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp), which was formulated to uplift the lives of farmers, has never been fully implemented, one of the reasons why many farmers and labor leaders who espouse its full implementation get killed.
"This disregard is horrendously displayed in the recent extra-judicial killings, perpetrated by groups from both the right and the left, of farmers whose only crime is their continuing struggle for agrarian reform or their inability to pay the revolutionary tax demanded of them by the NPA," Ledesma said.
"The government and the military's response to the shameful extra judicial killings of unarmed crusaders for justice and equality is most unsatisfactory," Ledesma said.
Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas, on the other hand, condemned the cruel eviction of urban poor.
"We call on those concerned to stop uncaring evictions and demolitions. We have laws in the land that tell us the proper processes for eviction. Let these laws be respected and followed, especially by law enforcing agencies," he said.
He said the urban poor have the right to live decently and it is the task of the government to provide decent living, employment opportunities and other basic rights of their constituents.
He pushed for the implementation of the proclamation made to address the situation of urban poor. (JMR/MSN/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (January 29, 2007 issue)
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