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Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Arroyo to commission: Go on with probe on slays
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday ordered the Melo Commission to proceed with its work and submit supplemental reports from time to time because none of the militant groups participated in the investigation.
She described as "unfortunate" the failure of militants to aid the commission in investigating extrajudicial slays.
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Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said there was no opposition from the members of the Melo Commission when the President ordered their continued operation.
He said they acknowledged that because not all the parties participated, some more time would be needed to complete the investigation.
The President made the directive after the Melo Commission submitted their report after Tuesday's Cabinet meeting in Malacañang.
Bunye, who is also Presidential spokesman, said the members of the Melo Commission led by former Supreme Court (SC) justice Jose Melo called on the President after lunch and submitted their report. They were initially set to submit their report on Thursday.
The members of the commission are Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Nestor Mantaring, Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, and University of the Philippines (UP) regent Nelia Gonzales.
Arroyo also ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to send a letter to the European Union (EU) and the governments of Spain, Finland, and Sweden asking them to send investigators and representatives that would help look into the series of extrajudicial killings in the country.
"The feeling is the others might be more inclined to participate with these investigators but (they) would be working under the umbrella of the commission," he said.
He added that aside from the Melo Commission and the DFA, the President also ordered the defense department, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and PNP leadership to review and update as soon as possible the documents on command responsibility.
Bunye said this means that the policy of command responsibility should be laid out "in very clear, unmistakable and understandable terms". He said they are leaving it to military, defense, and police officials to decide whether the policy of command responsibility would cover active and retired military officials.
The Melo Commission had recommended that retired Major General Jovito Palparan should be made to face responsibility for the actions of some men under his command who had been tagged in the killings. Bunye said it would be up to military how it would implement the policy of command responsibility.
Arroyo also directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) and national defense office to work with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on the creation of a joint fact-finding body that would look deeper into the killings allegedly involving military personnel, file the appropriate charges, and prosecute the culpable parties.
She also wants the DOJ to broaden and enhance the Witness Protection Program "to cover all witnesses in unexplained killings of an ideological/political nature" and for the chief presidential legal counsel to draft a letter to the Supreme Court (SC) "seeking the creation of special courts for the trial of charges involving unexplained killings of a political/ideological nature."
The President stressed that she deplores all the killings, whether they involve leftist or rightist groups, or journalists or activists.
She added that peace, just like alleviating poverty, "is very much an issue of human rights" and these two are part of her priorities.
The military, meanwhile, is distancing itself from the controversy involving Palparan.
Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the military no longer has jurisdiction over Palparan who has bowed out of the service in September 11 last year upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.
Palparan was last assigned as commander of the Army's 7th Infantry Division, which operates in Central Luzon. Palparan earlier denied any hand in the killings of members of the left-leaning organizations.
The chairman of the Melo Commission, retired Supreme Court Justice Melo, said last Monday that his commission has recommended that Palparan and other military commanders be held responsible for the extrajudicial killings.
Commenting on the statement of Melo, Esperon said charges against Palparan could only be pursued in civilian courts but never in the military tribunal, stressing that Palparan is no longer a member of the Armed Forces.
"If there is evidence against him, he can be taken to (civilian) courts but since he is already retired, we cannot pursue a case against him," said Esperon of Palparan, who had been given the moniker "The Butcher" by leftists.
Colonel Arthur Abadilla, the military's Provost Marshal, said the military could pursue a case against an officer if the investigation and the filing of charges against him took place when he was still in the active service.
Esperon admitted that military did not investigate Palparan when various left-leaning organizations began accusing of him of involvement in the killings of leftist personalities.
"As far as I know, he was not formally investigated. There was no formal complaint, it was all allegations so what was the basis for an investigation," he said.
Palparan has appeared in one of the hearings conducted by the Melo Commission and has denied the charges against him. He said the accusations against him were meant to derail the military's fight against the communist New People's Army (NPA).
Esperon acknowledged that a number of military personnel have been involved in some of the killings of members of militant organizations but said the military leadership is not condoning those offenses.
Esperon agreed with an earlier statement of Bishop Pueblos that the killings of the militants and journalists can be attributed to the military, Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA), and goons hired by politicians.
Esperon said several troops have been investigated for the killings. One of them -- Corporal Alberto Rafon -- had been already discharged from the service for the killing of a certain Nicanor delos Santos on October 2002.
Corporal. Esteban Vivar is now facing charges before the Naga City Prosecutor's Office while three others - Master Sergeant Antonio Torilla, Sergeant Rowie Barua, Master Sergeant Donald Caigas - have been either cleared by the courts or government prosecutors.
An alleged militiaman, Ronnie Canet, had been also implicated in one of the killings in the Bicol region. However, records from the 9th Infantry Division later disclosed that Canet is not in the list of its militiamen.
Esperon was quoting from the records of the Task Force Usig (TFU), a police-led interim body tasked to investigate the killings. He said a total of 114 killings have been investigated by the task force headed by PNP Deputy Director General Avelino Razon.
"Of the 114 cases investigated by TFU, 48 cases were filed in court while the remaining 66 are still under extensive investigation. Out of the 48 filed cases, 22 are found to be perpetrated by the CPP/NPA/National Democratic Front (NDF) while only six cases implicate military personnel," he said.
Esperon gave reporters a compiled list of victims of summary executions by the communists from 2000 to May 2006. Of the 1,227 victims, Esperon said 843 are civilians while the rest are soldiers and policemen.
"We challenge the CPP/NPA/NDF to account for the deaths of these people," said Esperon. He also posed the same challenge to the human rights group Karapatan, which is among the organizations accusing the military of involvement in the killings of leftist people. (JR/VR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pangasinan. (January 31, 2007 issue)
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