Clergy and church workers among victims of extra-judicial killings

LAST Sunday, the Papal envoy to the country expressed alarm at the escalating number of murdered journalists and activists which he said is besmirching the Philippines’s reputation as a predominantly Roman Catholic country, especially following the recent abolition of the death penalty.

Papal Nuncio Archbishop Fernando Filoni said he was surprised that “in the Philippines there is still a high incidence of moral and political violence against those who profess different political ideologies.” The spate of murders, he added, poses a contradiction in that, “on the one hand, we practically abolished the death penalty and yet on the other hand, we are not respecting or implementing the rights of the human race.”

The human rights alliance Karapatan has documented 705 civilians who have been victims of extra-judicial killings since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power 2001. Of this number, 297 were activists identified with leftist organizations.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), meanwhile, counts 44 journalists who have been murdered since 2001, six of them killed this year.

What should cause more alarm to the Papal Nuncio is that the impunity has not spared even the religious sector, claiming the lives of 16 clergy and lay members mostly from the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), a progressive Protestant denomination.

The latest victims, according to Karapatan, were two UCCP pastors — Rev. Andy Pawican who was killed last May 21 in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija by unidentified armed men, and Rev. Jemias Tinambacan of Calaran, Misamis Occidental, who was shot to death by four armed motorcycle-riding men last May 9 while traveling to Oroquieta City.

Tinambacan’s wife, Marilou, was also injured in the attack. She survived by hiding herself inside their van and pretending to be dead as soon as she heard one of the assailants say “Buhay pa ang babae, tuluyan na ‘yan! (The woman is still alive, let’s finish her off!).”

The Arroyo government has suggested that communist rebels could be behind many of the killings as part of an internal purge. Just recently, Deputy Director General Avelino Razon Jr., head of Task Force Usig investigaitng the murders, also claimed that the New People’s Army (NPA) is behind the deaths of journalists.

Karapatan is however holding the Arroyo government accountable for what it claims as the worsening human rights situation and systematic killings of activists.

As Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Arroyo, it said, has “allowed, abetted and countenanced gross violations of human rights.”

“(Mrs. Arroyo) has allowed the implementation of Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Plan Freedom Watch), the counter-insurgency program that targets not only the armed combatants but also leaders of known legal and democratic organizations. (She) has rewarded well her counter-insurgency killing machines, like Jovito Palparan, Jr. with promotions and medals, distorting the cowardly act of killing hapless civilians as an act of valor,” said Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Karapatan secretary-general.

Enriquez added that Oplan Bantay Laya has caused the disappearance of some 181 persons in a span of five years (as culled from Karapatan data from January 20, 2001 to July 11, 2006).

The list of church members killed include the following:

• Nestor Arinque, former local church council chairman of the UCCP in Mabini, Bohol and chairman of the Hugpong sa Mag-uuma sa Mabini or Organization of Peasants in Mabini (HUMABI) shot to death by three unidentified motorcycle-riding men last March 7, 2006 in Bgy. Abaca, Mabini, Bohol

• Mateo Morales, lay worker for the Religious of the Good Shepherd’s Tribal Filipino Ministry assisting Banwaon and Manobo tribal communities in Agusan del Sur shot to death on January 24, 2006 inside his home in Bgy. Dona Flavia, San Luis, Agusan del Sur

• Junico Jacosalem, UCCP member and Bayan Muna municipal coordinator in Aluran, Misamis Occidental summarily executed on December 6, 2005

• Jose ‘Pepe’ Manegdeg III, member of Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), former staff of the Regional Ecumenical Council in the Cordillera (RECCORD) and former volunteer of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) Ecology Program killed by unidentified assailants on November 29, 2005 along the national highway in Bgy. Apatot, San Esteban, Ilocos Sur

• Rev. Raul Domingo of Brgy. San Jose, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, member of UCCP and Kapatirang Simbahan para sa Bayan (Kasimbayan), and secretary-general of Karapatan in Palawanshot and seriously wounded last August 20, 2005, later died at the hospital on September 4

• Edison Lapuz, UCCP conference minister of Sitio Motor, Bgy. Crossing, San Isidro, Leyte; member of the Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR), Karapatan and Bayan Muna killed on May 12, 2005

• Alfredo Davis, member of UCCP in Mahaplag, Leytekilled on April 5, 2005 at the vicinity of Mahaplag, Leyte

• Fr. William Tadena, resident of Bgy. Matindeg, Pura, Tarlac, member of Iglesia Filipina Independiente and PCPR in Tarlac, active supporter of the Hacienda Luisita workers killed on March 13, 2005 (three of his companions, all church workers, survived)

• Abe Sungit, leader of indigenous peoples in Palawan, member of UCCP Indigenous Peoples’ Program), Karapatan-Palawan and Pagsambatan killed on February 5, 2005

• Vicente Olea, 71-year-old UCCP member in San Vicente, Palawan killed on November 23, 2004

• Juanito Sanchez, member of UCCP-CYF Tarlac massacred along with seven workers and supporters of Hacienda Luisita strike last November 16, 2004

• Joel Baclao, member of UCCP, coordinator of Andurog Mayon, the NCCP relief and rehabilitation work for victims of the Mayon Volcano eruption, member of the PCPR National Council in Bicolkilled on November 10, 2004

• Isaias Manano, resident of Bgy. Nacoco, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, member of the UCCP–Christian Youth Fellowship (CYF) and Anakpawis party-list chapter in Mindoro.killed on April 28, 2004

• Rey Corpin, 13-year-old UCCP member killed along with eight peasants (Kananga 9 massacre) on April 16, 2003, found dead with shattered heads and brutal signs of torture on their bodies in Sitio Mahayahay, Bgy. San Isidro, Kananga, Leyte; young boy’s head was blown off and the right portion of his skull was missing

Karapatan also reports that the massacre of families by soldiers and paramilitary forces have resulted in the execution of innocents — 44 children and 5 unborn babies.

Families of the victims are calling on influential church leaders, particularly the catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), to join their call to hold Arroyo answerable for the unending bloodbath, abductions and disappearances in the Philippines.

Though they welcome the CBCP’s stand against extra-judicial killings, they expressed dismay that the bishops have yet to acknowledge these crimes to be a product of a state policy and that the head of state must be held accountable for it in an impeachment.

The CBCP recently issued a statement expressing its pessimism about the impeachment process as a means to establish the truth behind the 2004 elections at this time.

“How much more bloodshed before our religious leaders to whom we look up to denounce the evil in the Palace and support moves to impeach her? We hope the bishops will hear our plea and look kindly upon the victims, most especially the orphaned children,” said Enriquez.