KARAPATAN Monitor

T
he second year of Pres. Noynoy Aquinos counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan marks an escalation of military operations and consequent human rights violations. One year short of its target to end insurgency in 2013, combat military operations intensify, alongside and complemented by continued surveillance, intelligence gathering and civil-military operations. Extrajudicial killings (EJK) continue, as there are now 76 victims documented as of March 31. Five of the nine documented victims of EJK in this quarter were killed by the militarys indiscriminate firing. Instead of owning up to the mistakes of their troops in the field, army commanders cover up their crimes by blaming their civilian victims, whom they tag as New Peoples Army members. Often, the victims or their relatives are offered monetary assistance in exchange of not filing charges against perpetrators.
Violation Extrajudicial Killing Enforced Disappearance Torture Rape Frustrated Extrajudicial Killing Illegal Arrest without Detention Illegal Arrest and Detention Illegal Search and Seizure Physical Assault and Injury Demolition Violation of Domicile Destruction of Properties Divestment of Properties Forced Evacuation Threat/Harassment/Intimidation Indiscriminate Firing Forced/Fake Surrender Forced Labor/Involuntary Servitude Use of Civilians in Police and/or Military Operations as Guides and/or Shield Use of Schools, Medical, Religious and Other Public Places for Military Purpose Restriction or Violent Dispersal of Mass Actions, Public Assemblies and Gatherings

January - March 2012

TABLE 1: Violation of Civil & Political Rights under the Noynoy Aquino Government (July 2010 to March 2012) No. of victims 76 9 62 3 49 222 195 160 91 7,008 285 6,129 232 6,556 15,862 6,721 45 162 296 1,756 2,074

Mamanwa evacuees left their homes and farms because of intense military operations.

2 TABLE 2: Victims of Extrajudicial Killing & Enforced Disappearance under Noynoy Aquino Govt by Region (July 2010 to March 2012)
Region Cordillera Administrative Region Cagayan Valley Ilocos Central Luzon Southern Tagalog Bicol NCR Western Visayas Central Visayas Eastern Visayas Northern Mindanao Caraga Socsksargen Western Mindanao Southern Mindanao ARMM Extrajudicial Killing 0 2 2 3 17 23 3 5 1 7 2 2 2 0 7 0
76 38 7

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Enforced Disappearance 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0

hunt for bats and birds in the forests of Magdalena. Police investigation said that when one of the victims fired the air gun, the soldiers mistook them for rebels and fired at them. Recovered from the scene were 53 spent shells of M14 rifle and 2 shells from a .45 pistol. In a news report, the army said that the four were all NPA rebels, in spite of the fact that they only carried an air gun. In a similar incident in Moriones village, San Jose, Tarlac, suspected soldiers strafed three charcoal makers, killing 20-year-old Boyet Ibarra, and wounding two minors aged 15 and 17.

Total Organized Women

In the first quarter of 2012, there is a marked and alarming increase in the number of human rights violations. The 49th Infantry Battalion Philippine Army (IBPA) claimed that farmer Benjamin Mancera, 54, was an NPA after they strafed his home in Malaya village, Labo, Camarines Norte, where an NPA member was resting. The latter, identified as Pedro, was killed in the strafing, along with Mancera, his two young sons, Michael, 10 and Richard, 7. The only survivor was Manceras 14-year-old daughter, Ella who was wounded. Ella narrated that on Feb. 25, she was at home with her father and brother Richard when she saw a soldier approaching their hut. Right after came a hail of bullets. Michael who was in the bedroom doing homework was also killed. She said that Pedro, who was in the kitchen, was immediately killed in the strafing and was not able to fire a shot. Village officials certified that Benjamin was not an NPA. The 9th Infantry Division (ID) expressed sadness over the deaths of the two children, but blamed the NPA for firing the first shot. The military kept Manceras daughter under tight watch as she recovered in the hospital. When she was about to be discharged, 2Lt. Robert Lee of the 49th IBPA tried to take custody of the child but her mother Lourdes resisted. In February, soldiers in combat operations killed three people and injured four in two separate incidents in the forests of Laguna and Tarlac, in Southern and Central Luzon, respectively. In Atingay village, Municipality of Magdalena, Laguna, soldiers of the 1st Infantry Battalion opened fire and killed Jaycee Perez, 31 and Christian Roy Noceto, 15. Also with them were Francis Abanilla, 18, and another 15-year-old youth, who were both wounded. In the midnight of Feb. 15, the group went out with an air gun and their dog to

On February 7, at 10 p.m. Ibarra and his two cousins went up to the 9 mountains in Moriones to check on the 3 charcoal they were burning. They were 0 accosted by three suspected soldiers carrying long firearms, one of whom forced them to follow him to a hut on top of the mountain, while the two others remained. As they approached the hut, they saw around 50 men in black T-shirts and black pants and armed with long firearms, coming out of the hut. A volley of gunfire greeted the six. The Jimmy Liguyon soldier who accosted Ibarra and the youths ordered them to drop to the ground for cover, while calling on the shooting soldiers to cease fire. Ibarra, who was hard of hearing, remained standing and was riddled with bullets. He died on the spot. The shooting continued intermittently, even as the first soldier shouted that hed been hit. He also died and his body was wrapped in a blanket and taken away by his companions, while Ibarras remains was brought down to the barangay by his two cousins.

January - March 2012

In Tacayan village, Tapaz, Capiz province, a six yearold Tumandok girl was killed in an explosion by a suspected M203 grenade that came from a nearby military detachment. On March 11, Rodelyn Aguirre was at home with her four year-old sister Baby, when they were hit by an explosion coming from two meters outside their hut. Just some 200 meters uphill was a detachment of the 61st IB. Villagers reported that a certain army personnel named Willy Faulo is known known to be brandishing an M203 rifle in the community. The detachment has been in the village for years and has been subject of complaints by residents. Bukidnon province.

Military spokesperson of the 3rd IB Capt. Reylan Java concocted a story that not only Rodilyn but also two NPAs were killed from an improvised explosive device (IED) that exploded while they were assembling it. This was belied With the gunman still at large and roaming the by the childrens grandfather Julian Aguirre, who said community, and threats from Salusad and his group, 83 he and the girls were the only ones in the hut when the individuals, mostly from Jimmys clan and members of explosion happened. He was the one who brought them the local indigenous organization Kasilo, were forced to a hospital. According to a team which conducted a fact- to evacuate and seek sanctuary in the Provincial Capitol finding mission, there is no evidence that the explosion grounds in San Fernando, Bukidnon. came from an IED. They also concluded that it would have been unlikely for NPAs to TABLE 3: assemble explosives in broad daylight and Victims of Extrajudicial Killing & Enforced Disappearance under Noynoy Aquino Govt with a military detachment close by. by Sector (July 2012 to March 2012) In Northern Samar, on January 28, soldiers Sector Extrajudicial Killing Enforced Disappearance of the 34th IB arbitrarily arrested five Peasant 35 7 residents of Hinagunuyan village, in the Worker 6 0 municipality of Catubig, Samar province. At Indigenous People 11 0 noon the following day, January 29, soldiers Government Employee 3 0 also took Hinagunuyan residents Danny and Teacher 1 0 Gerlie Rotamola, and their two children, an Youth and S tudent 2 1 infant and a two-year-old and brought them Environmentalist 2 0 to Palapag town by military helicopter. Entrepreneur 4 0 Eight of the victims Julio Lebico, Eduardo Urban poor 3 1 Rebato, Noinie Pajares, Rubin Pajares, Minor 6 0 Church 1 0 Danilo Pajares, Felomino Lebico, Danny Fisherfolk 1 0 Retamola, and Flordelina Celes were Media 1 0 later reported by the military to the media Total 76 9 as members of the New Peoples Army who surrendered to the government. The victims are village officials and members of the barangay peace and order council. In Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, a member of the Citizens Auxilliary Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) shot Barangay Hinagunuyan was one of the villages visited by a Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) Team on January 14 which dead Binobohan village chief Norberto Recabo inside the investigated cases of human rights violations of the military. village chapel on Feb. 18. Recabo, 50, was also a member of The FFM Team documented the militarys occupation of the local farmers group Kaugmaon. The chapel was some three houses in the village, and public civilian buildings in 20 meters from Recabos house, and some 50 meters from the CAFGU detachment under the command of the 12th IB. other neighboring villages. The FFM also investigated the killing of Jovito Pajanustan, a farmer from the neighboring village Barangay Osang, Catubig, believed to have been tortured and killed by soldiers on November 24, 2011.

Jimmy Liguyon, 37, leader of the Matigsalog tribe and village chief of Dao, San Fernando, Bukidnon was shot in front of his house on March 5 by Alde Salusad, a member of Triom Force. He was accompanied by other armed paramilitary men. Salusad called out to the witnesses that he killed Jimmy because of his refusal to sign a certification for Sanmatrida, or the San Fernando Matigsalog Tribal Datu Association. The Sanmatrida is facilitating the entry and operation of mining companies in the Lumad ancestral lands. It claims 53,000 hectares in 12 villages, and is being resisted by tribal leaders including Liguyon. Salusad and Sanmatrida are closely associated with the 8th IB based in Halapitan, San Fernando. Last year, Liguyon received death threats from and were harassed by Salusads group.

Paramilitary groups on a rampage

A leader of the indigenous peoples who stood up against mining was brazenly killed by paramilitary men in

On February 20, CAFGU member Cerilo Tejares surrendered to the police in Guihulngan City and admitted to killing Recabo, whom he claimed ordered him to kill someone. His family however said that in December 2011, Recabo intervened in settling an argument between detachment commander, Corporal Jose Cananga and a village councilor, Jose Ramil Caniedo. Recabo earned the ire of Cananga which led to an intense argument between

4 the two of them. Cananga went to the detachment and returned with several men in full battle gear, including Cerilo Tejares. The soldiers threatened Recabo and Caniedo, who along with other village officials filed a complaint before Col. Bitong, commanding officer of the 11th IBPA in January 2012. Under Oplan Bantay Laya, and now in Oplan Bayanihan, the CAFGU and some armed tribal groups founded or controlled by the Phil. Army are used as auxiliary forces by the military in their combat and civilmilitary operations.

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This year, Katrinas friend Isabel was abducted from Feb. 17 to 20. Isabel, who knew Lalin as Katrinas boyfriend said she was on her way home when she hitched a ride with Lalin on his motorcycle. Lalin brought Isabel to a military camp in Ifugao. Isabels family was not aware that she was abducted, because her aunt, with whom she stays on school days, assumed that she went home to her parents. Her parents assumed that she was with her aunt. Isabels sister however became suspicious when she noticed that since Isabel returned on Feb. 20, she was dazed and physically weak, and did not go to school the next day. She also discovered in Isabels belongings some contraceptive pills, a brand new cellphone, Php 1,000 bill and food stuff. They turned out to be gifts from Lalin. When confronted, Isabel cried and told her sister that she was abducted and raped but was too distressed to clearly recall where she had been the four days she was abducted. Isabels medical examination at the Benguet General Hospital showed that she has hymenal lacerations which suggested that she was possibly raped by more than one man. She was also tested positive for vaginal fungal infection, and was diagnosed as mentally depressed. In news reports, the Phil. Army said that Lalin was only relieved from his duties because of the complaints.

Rape

Rape of women and minors is proof that the militarys presence in the communities endangers the lives and rights of the people. However, due to the sensitive nature of the violation, victims would often not report to authorities their experience for fear of reprisal or humiliation. Two minors, both graduating high school girls, were allegedly lured and raped by Phil. Army Capt. Danilo Lalin who was assigned to the 50th Infantry Battalion in Mankayan, Benguet. Katrina was first to be seduced by Lalin in late 2011 through text messages. On December 17, 2011, Katrina asked permission to attend her schools christmas party preparations. She went home two days later, and her family noticed that Katrina was unusually silent. She began skipping classes and showed defiant behavior while she continued to go out with the military officer. Katrinas mother began to worry when she discovered contraceptive pills in her daughters belongings.

Demolition and threat of displacement

Another wave of demolition occurred at Barangay Corazon de Jesus in San Juan City on January 11 and 12. Around 80 police and SWAT members surrounded the community while the houses were being demolished

HACIENDA LUISITA FARM WORKERS CONTINUE STRUGGLE FOR LAND

On February 20, around 100 security guards of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) fired shots at protesting farm workers, while soldiers and police merely stood by. The farm workers led by the Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Luisita (Ambala) and the United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU) tried to stop RCBCs hired workers from putting up fences around the collective farm which they had tilled since 2005. RCBC is claiming 500 hectares of Hacienda Luisita. On March 27, seven farm workers, two of which are minors, were arrested as police violently dispersed the barricade in the same area. The two boys, aged 16 and 17 were later released, while the five, who were charged with malicious mischief, posted bail. Also those who posted bail are 17 farmer leaders following an arrest warrant issued against them for grave coercion. On November 22, 2011, the Supreme Court ruled in a 14-0 decision that favored the farm workers and ordered the distribution of the 4,915 hectares of land but the Cojuangco-Aquino clan continues to hinder its implementation invoking its demand to just compensation and it is yet to be finalized. The 184-hectare parcel of land was reportedly used by the Cojuanco-Aquino clan as payment of obligations to the RCBC In 2004, farmworkers of Hacienda Luisita, Inc. protested the bogus Stock Distribution Scheme, and picketed the Central Azucarrera of the Hacienda. In an attempt to disperse the picketing farm workers and their supporters, security guards, police and soldiers open fired at the protesters on November 16, 2004. This resulted to the death of seven farm workers, and injury of many others. Soldiers had encamped in the hacienda since then.

January - March 2012

despite appeals of the residents. On January 11, leaders of Samahan ng Mamamayang Nagkakaisa (Samana or Society of United Residents) conducted a dialogue with Police Chief Inspector Melchor Rosales. The dialogue was led by Antolin Pearanda, Samana Vice-chairperson and spokesperson of the local Kadamay chapter. Two days later, police attempted to detain urban poor leader Antolin Pearanda. On January 13, while Pearanda was loading his familys belongings to a jeepney from their demolished home, he was approached by police inspector Melchor Rosales. Rosales grabbed Pearanda by the arm and waistband while shouting Youre one of the leaders here. You are initiating the violence! Antolin was pressed against the jeep while other policemen arrived and pinned down both his arms. Rosales accused Pearanda of slander. Pearandas wife begged the police to let her husband go. She even asked them if there is a warrant of arrest for her husband, but was ignored. Other residents also went to Pearandas aid and pulled him from the policemen. Rosales threatened Pearanda not to return. The community of Corazon de Jesus is being demolished by the San Juan City government for the construction of a local government and commercial district, including a helipad supposedly for the local governments use, despite a presidential decree issued by former Pres. Arroyo granting the land to the residents. Mayor Guia Gomez, through her spokesperson, authorized the police to use force if residents do not vacate by 3pm of January 13. The police camped at night at the San Juan Municipal High School and the newly constructed municipal hall. They have also set up checkpoints, apprehending passersby or preventing people from entering the community. Residents of Hukay village, Calatagan, Batangas had been under threat of displacement because of claims to the land by the Rossana Sy Development Corporation, which holds a bogus title but is reportedly backed up the local government. For almost two years, the soldiers of the 16th IB and 730th Combat Group of the Phil. Air Force have been staying at the barangay health center and Sangguniang Kabataan hall in the village and residents have demanded that they leave. As if to spite the people, on Feb. 20, the soldiers left, only to construct their camp beside the barangay health center. The residents protested. In a dialogue with the village officials, the residents decided that the military detachment site should only be by the coastline. Fisherfolk led by the Samahan ng mga Mangingisda sa Barangay Hukay (SMBHI) even reminded the soldiers not to cut the mangroves, because these protect the community from the big waves.

On February 22, soldiers assisted by 30 hired laborers, began clearing 1.5 hectares of mangroves and were only stopped by the village folk. The soldiers had already cut 400 Kalapinay mangroves, including 120 that were a century-old, as well as saplings. On Feb. 23, the Hukay villagers trooped to the municipal hall for a dialogue with Mayor Sophia Palacio, but she was reportedly unavailable. That same day, soldiers on board five trucks arrived in the area, followed by 50 laborers. The residents along with Nasugbu police chief Supt. Aguda who mediated, hurried to the site after learning that the soldiers were going to clear even more mangroves. The military showed a construction plan to develop the area, which the villagers again resisted because there was no such agreement. Sgt. Ryan Gonzales said that they were there to protect development in the area, and agreed that the soldiers would not cut any more mangroves.

Abduction, arbitrary arrests and fake surrenderees

While claiming to respect human rights, the military stage fake encounters, label arbitrarily arrested minors as child warriors and brand abduction victims as rebel returnees in an attempt to hide rights abuses. In Paranas, Samar, the 87th IB surfaced a village councilor and his two sons two weeks after abducting them, only to take them all again to military custody; this time, with his wife and two other children who are minor. Pagsan-an village councilor and farmer Artemio Labong, 57 and his son Roel, 21, were missing after being abducted by soldiers in their village in Paranas on March 4. Then on March 13, soldiers, while still holding Artemio captive, abducted his other son Jeffrey, 26 at the Paranas town proper.

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Soldiers and police also searched Elpidios house where they claimed to have found a gun; and Ambrosios house in the nearby village of Polilio, where they claimed to have seized a grenade. Witnesses however attested that soldiers have entered the two houses prior to serving the search warrant to village officials. The victims reported that the soldiers also seized a total of at least Php 250,000 cash from them, a laptop, medicines and other personal items. These were not included in the list of seized items presented by the police and military, who only reported the amount of Php 116,000 taken from the victims. The five were charged with violations of the Human Security Act or the AntiTerrorism Law, rebellion, illegal possession of firearms and explosives and were kept under tight watch at the Nueva Ecija Provincial Police Office detention facility. Delalamon, 58, was released in January 2011 after one year and four months of detention. Charges of murder and attempted murder against him were dismissed. He is once again arbitrarily detained based on trumped-up charges. In Quezon province, on March 22, soldiers of the 74th IB arbitrarily arrested a farmer and two minors who were accused as NPA rebels involved in an encounter in Pansoy village, San Andres town. The soldiers claimed that Elmer Desuyo, 20, Rey Rodrigo, 17 and Reynaldo delos Santos, 16, were arrested after allegedly figuring in an encounter between the AFP and NPA. The military refused to present the three to KarapatanSouthern Tagalog workers who went to the 74th IB headquarters. The three were charged with illegal possession of firearms and were later transferred to the Quezon Provincial jail in Lucena City where they are now detained. In Northern Samar, it was the vigilance and will of his family and village mates that saved farmer Felipe Termo from further harm after he was abducted by 20th IB soldiers.

On March 19, the military presented Artemio and his two sons as rebel surenderees at a meeting of the Municipal Peace and Order Council in Paranas, even granting them Php 20,000 as livelihood fund under the Social Integration Program. This was despite protest by Pagsan-an barangay chair Marito Mabanan that the three are not rebels, and that Artemio is in fact an elected government official. Instead of letting them go, the military also took Artemios wife Anecita and their two younger children, ages eight and 12. Soldiers of the 56th IB and police faked a firefight with alleged rebels to carry out the arbitrary arrest of five persons, including a minor and a former political detainee, in Cabanatuan City. They also seized money amounting to at least Php 250,000, medicines, household and personal belongings of the victims. Arbitrarily arrested were former political detainee Efren Delalamon, resident of Makati City; Andres Lapuz, resident of Cabiao, Nueva Ecija; Carla Bautista, resident of Paraaque City; Ambrosio Ileto, Anakpawis partylist member and resident of Polilio village, Cabanatuan, and his nephew, 17-year-old Jan Michael Ileto, of Sto. Nio village. The five were in Sto. Nio, at the yard of Elpidio Ileto, Ambrosios brother, when the soldiers came in combat formation and began firing. Delalamon sustained minor wounds in the right arm and left side of the body.

January - March 2012

On March 4, at around 8 pm, Termo was at home in Bobon, Northern Samar when three armed men came and introduced themselves as NPA members and asked for help. When Termo did not react, one of them blurted that the victim was an NPA supporter. The two others grabbed Termo and interrogated him about the NPAs hiding place for firearms. The three then took Termo to the forest. The victims wife sought the help of the village officials and residents, and they gathered and searched for the victim in the forest. They walked for three kilometers and found the armed men still interrogating Termo. The armed men introduced themselves as members of the Philippine Army.Because of the villagers pressure, he was able to go home that same night. They later learned that the soldiers were looking for eight other residents of E.Duran, who are suspected to be NPA supporters. For fear that they might also be abducted, the residents were afraid to go to their farms. As arbitrary arrests and filing of fabricated charges continue against innocent civilians, there are now (as of 31March) 363 political prisoners in detention centers in different provinces. A total of 93 were arrested under the Noynoy Aquino government.
TOTAL No. of PPs 0 7 5 18 37 24 143 13 7 3 21 10 7 7 7 27 27

7 Agusan del Norte. The explosions occurred some 400 meters away from the communities. Later that afternoon, both planes and helicopter returned and armed soldiers rapelled down a nearby hill. Residents then heard and saw trees felled by chainsaws as soldiers set up camp. Civilians were unable to go to their farms to gather food, or to the forest to gather firewood, which was their daily source of income. Residents were hungry and terrorized by the military operations which continued for several days with aerial strikes and bombings, regular hovering of helicopters and fighter planes, sporadic gunfire and encroachment of soldiers in the communities. Residents of Ansili were the first to evacuate on March 6. Other communities followed. By March 14, a total of 158 families, or at least 800 individuals including children had fled from their homes in Ansili and Maribuhok in Sitio Zapanta and from Manhumapay, all in Kitcharao; and from Sitio Lusong, Brgy. Puting Bato, Cabadbaran City. Most of the evacuees are Mamanwa indigenous peoples. They trekked, some up to eight kilometers, to take shelter in neighboring villages.

Region Cordillera Administrative Region Cagayan Valley Ilocos Central Luzon Southern Tagalog Bicol NCR Negros Panay Central Visayas Eastern Visayas Northern Mindanao Caraga Socsksargen Western Mindanao Southern Mindanao ARMM

Women 0 2 3 2 7 3 5 0 1 0 6 0 0 0 1 1 0

Among the evacuees, 78 Mamanwa families sought sanctuary with the provincial government in Butuan City but were refused. They stayed instead in the covered court of barangay NDF Consultants Imadejas in Butuan. Under PNoy
& Staff 0 1 0 1 0 0 6 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 8 14 8 13 8 0 1 10 2 0 0 2 9 9

On March 23, seven soldiers armed high-powered guns led by Major Nilo Kanashiro, spokesperson of the 4th ID and Lt. Patrick Martinez, civil-military operations of the 402nd Brigade, arrived at the evacuation center and harassed the people. On the same day, 107 residents of Palidan, Mahaba village, and some villages of Cabadbaran City arrived, and the military insisted to photograph the newcomers individually before they are allowed inside. Tired and distressed, the evacuees ignored the soldiers.

Maj. Kanashiro entered the evacuation center without giving Total 363 31 12 94 courtesy to the datus, and proceeded Sickly 60 TABLE 4: Political Prisoners to berate the evacuees for accepting 12 Elderly (As of March 31, 2012) help from organizations such as Kasalo and Gabriela. He told the evacuees to go home because the soldiers had left Attacks against rural communities their villages, a claim belied by another military official Oplan Bayanihan, in full swing, is a picture of intensified who announced on radio that same afternoon that military military operations in rural communities forcing civilians operations were continuing. The soldiers also set up a to evacuate their homes. Soldiers however continue to checkpoint at the entrance of the evacuation center, and harass village folk even at the evacuation centers. asked everyone to log in. They tried to deny entry to Atel On March 5, two fighter planes dropped bombs, while Hijos, Gabriela-Caraga Chair and Genasque Enriquez, a helicopter strafed the nearby mountain areas of Ansili Secretary General of Kasalo-Caraga, who insisted that the and Zapanta sub-villages in Kitcharao, Province of soldiers have no right to do so.

8 In reaction, Hijos said: If they cannot show common courtesy towards the Lumad datus and local leaders in broad daylight, in the middle of the city and in front of the media who witnessed their actions, imagine the total disregard for human dignity and terror tactics that they subject the residents of lumad communities in the isolated mountains. As of this writing, more than 300 individuals are still in an evacuation center in Butuan City, as they continue to appeal for the immediate pull-out of soldiers in their community and to end the airstrikes.

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to meet with the latter that night. As Igot was waiting inside a mall, a man arrived and tried to push him inside a restaurant, but Igot resisted. Another man believed to be an intelligence agent soon arrived and the two took turns interrogating Igot on his involvement in Anakpawis and AMA-Sugbo-KMU. They also hinted at having his cooperation. Visibly shaken, Igot told the two he was heading home, and refused their offer to go to a bar. In other cases, military officials are more direct in making allegations as they turn formal meetings of the Provincial Peace and Order Councils (PPOC) into venues to brand leaders of progressive organizations as Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) -NPA officials, and in effect, make them possible targets of military attacks, as was experienced under the OBL. In Bohol, Carmilo Eloy Tabada, 39, provincial coordinator of the Farmers Development Center (FARDEC) Inc. heard his name over a radio broadcast of DYRD in Tagbilaran City, being tagged as the Kalihim (secretary) of the White Area Party Committee of the CPP in Bohol. The radio program quoted the report of Army Col. John Bonafos to the Bohol Provincial Peace and Order Council. A similar case was reported in Ilocos Sur, when the military, in its briefing at a PPOC meeting, claimed that an elected government official, was seen with the NPA. In a March 17 meeting of the Ilocos Sur PPOC, Lt. Col. Rogelio Mesias, commanding officer of 3rd IB, reported that incumbent Provincial Board Member and human rights lawyer Robert Tudayan and seven progressive leaders and members were seen with or accommodating NPA members. Tudayan, 53, refuted the militarys claims and questioned their report. Tudayan said that he had been receiving death threats.

Surveillance, target research and harassment

Suspected soldiers and military agents donned different disguises to harass peasant and labor leaders and members, organizers and rights defenders. In Carmen, Bohol province, farmers were harassed by four suspected soldiers of the Peace and Development Teams of the 1st Special Forces Battalion who went around villages. In Tagaonan village, Marietta Ayop, 42 was interviewed by four men who did not introduce themselves but claimed to be doing a survey for a medical mission to be conducted in a nearby village. They asked her name, address, place of birth and monthly income, all of which Ayop answered, believing it was required for the medical mission. She became suspicious when the men asked about the peasant organization she was affiliated with. She was then photographed her and made to sign a form that the men themselves filled-out. In Antolinga village, on Feb. 12, Julian Quensina, 34 and Joselito Gulayan, 36 were interrogated by two men who barged into their hut, while two others stayed outside. The farmers were asked about their name, age, address and organization. They were photographed and were forced to sign a document without explanation. The victims raised these incidents with Carmen Mayor Conchita delos Reyes in a dialogue on Feb. 20. The mayor however did not give any commitment to address the case of the victims and instead discouraged the farmers from participating in rallies. A Cebu labor organizer became victim of an interrogation entrapment operations where intelligence agents lure unsuspecting activists through text messages or internet to meet with them, and then interrogate and harass them. On January 19, Jovan Igot, 51, radio program host of the Visayas Human Development Agency (VIHDA), got a message through his Facebook account from a certain Cris Torres who pretended to be interested in buying a memorial lot. Igot, who is also a sales agent for Golden Haven Memorial Park, believing that Cris is a buyer, agreed
is released quarterly by Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples Rights)
National Office: 2nd Flr. Erythrina Bldg. #1 Maaralin St. Central District, Quezon City 1100 Telefax: (+63 2) 4354146 / 4342837 E-mail: docu@karapatan.org | Website: www.karapatan.org

n the second year of its implementation, the P-Noy Aquino governments Oplan Bayanihan has unmasked itself as nothing but Oplan Bantay Laya all over again. The deceitful embellishment of peace, development, people-oriented and for human rights could no longer disguise the state terror being waged against the people especially those defending their rights and seeking justice, democracy and freedom from foreign domination. OpBay, like the OBL, has not succeeded in sowing fear but it has instead given reason for the people, especially the downtrodden and most oppressed, to organize themselves and resist the few greedy and powerful who are trampling on their freedoms, rights and liberties.
Published in partnership with the National Council of Churches in the Philippines under the Defending the Defenders Program promoting human rights and the protection of human rights defenders. This publication is produced with the assistance of the European Union.

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The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of KARAPATAN and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.