This is the fourth and final entry in my series of posts offering the verbatim Human Rights Watch report on CAA,or Civilian Active Auxiliary abuses under the protection of the AFP, or, Armed Forces of the Philippines. The CAAs, of which the CAFGU, or Civilian Auxiliary Force Geographical Units were the first created, serve in the AFP COIN, or Counterinsurgency programme as a geographically fixed armed reserve manned by the population the unit is protecting. They serve in the second step, or "Hold Phase," after the AFP has "cleared" a sector.
As I have noted, I don't particularly respect Human Rights Watch, or HRW, but this report- actually by Asia Watcg which later was subsumed by HRW- happens to provide a lot of great factual data about the CAA programme circa 1990.
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Militia Abuses in Areas of Sporadic Conflict
In areas of Northern Mindanao where the insurgency was no longer a major threat in 1991 and early 1992, the continued deployment of the CAFGU raised serious human rights concerns. Human Rights Watch findings suggest the presence of CAFGU over time may have led to heightened violence in the communities in which they are based. After combat units withdraw, military supervision of the CAFGU appears to weaken. CAFGU members remain armed, but without a clear target. In communities where the CAFGU remain without a visible enemy, poverty, fear, petty feuding, and the replacement of traditional legal systems by arbitrary force have made the militia, like civil patrols in Guatemala, "a dangerous conduit for vigilante justice and the abuse of power" ("Civil Patrols in Guatemala," pp11, Americas Watch, NY: August 1986).
This trend is evident in news reports. Between April and September 1991, Northern Mindanao's largest circulation newspaper, "The Goldstar Daily," published an average of two reports per month on CAFGU members' involvement in violent crimes in the four neighboring provinces of Northern Mindanao:
-An April 11, 1991 report described the manhunt for a CAFGU member in nearby Surigao del Norte Province accused of raping a 14 year old girl.
-A May 31, 1991 report detailed the arrest of a CAFGU member suspected of a hold up in Bukindon Province.
-A July 3, 1991 story reported that a CAFGU member in Misamis Oriental Province was declared guilty of Murder and Rape.
-On July 4, 1991, three CAFGU members in Surigao del Norte Province were arrested in a robbery.
-On July 25, 1991, charges were brought against three CAFGU members in Misamis Oriental for threats against a resident.
-A July 30, 1991 report pointed to CAFGU members as the main suspects in the ambush killings of a parish worker and her son in Misamis Oriental.
-On July 31, 1991, a CAFGU member was shot by another in Agusan del Norte Province.
-On August 12, 1991 the paper reported that a CAFGU member was the main suspect in the killing of a motorcycle driver in Misamis Oriental Province.
-On August 22, 1991, a CAFGU member was reported to have shot and killed a local resident in Surigao del Norte Province.
-On August 27, 1991, a CAFGU member was blamed for shooting a local resident and wounding his wife in Misamis Oriental.
-On September 25, 1991, three persons were killed in Bukidnon Province in a shootout between a CAFGU member and a policeman.
Human Rights Watch documented 14 killings by CAFGU or suspected CAFGU in Agusan del Norte and Bukidnon Provinces in 1991. Members of militant farners' organizations were the main victims of political violence.
In addition, Human Right Watch findings that the Military gives a cash bounty to militia and vigilante group members for the killing of suspected NPA rebels raises concerns that Military policy encourages arbitrary and uncontrolled acts of violence. The bounties for capture of suspected NPA are listed in documents known as the Order of Battle.
pp30
In Bukidnon, this provision served as a virtual go ahead for armed groups, some outside the ordinary chain of discipline or command, to take part in violent attacks on suspected rebels. Execution, and not merely capture, of the suspects was rewarded.
CAFGU and Military Killings in Agusan del Norte
Agusan del Norte, perched on the north coast of Mindanao at the mouth of the Agusan River, was not the site of major military operations in Mindanao in 1991. The infantry battalion located near Butuan City, the provincial capital, played a defensive role generally, and relatively few encounters were reported in the local press. CAFGU forces remained in place, some under the supervision of police security forces rather than military.
Despite the lack of military activity in the province, security, and CAFGU forces were implicated in several attacks on suspected NPA sympathizers and poor peasants, particularly members of local farmers' organizations. In 1991, in the province of Agusan del Norte, Human Rights Watch investigated four unprovoked killings of farmers, three of them leaders UMAN, the provincial affiliate of the Left Wing farmers' organization, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.
Killing of a Peasant Community Leader by CAFGU
A witness to the killing of Jose Bongcoza in the village of Kabalalahan, in the town of Sangay, said she believed Bongcaza was killed because of his refusal to join the Bantay Bayan. She said he was visited three times by the same armed men before his shooting death.
On September 26, 1991, a Military man accompanied by three CAFGUs went to look for Bongcoza at his house. Noone was home, so the men went to the neighbor, who identified the Military officer as "Boy" Cascara and one CAFGU, a certain Rigo.
Bongciza had refused to join the volunteer village patrol, so when he learned about the visit, he said he was afraid. A neighbor, whose brother had been sought and killed by the Military, advised him to go into hiding, but Boncoza decided to wait for the men to return, and then go with them to speak with the local Military commander.
The same thre visited Bongcoza's house the next day, but left before Bongcoza returned. Neighbors told the family about the visit. The next day, the family went up to the farm to slaughter a pig for the Sunday Fiesta. When they returned, they found the door kicked in, with boot marks on it. The family was frightened and went to the home of a relative. The next day, Bongcoza went with his aunt to see a town council official in Sangay, the municipal center, to find out why the men were after him, "especially since this Cascara and Rigo are known to liquidate suspected NPAs," the source said. The official told them he could do nothing, because it was a Sunday, but advised Bongcoza to hide out until the next day.
Bongcoza, however, appeared upset and instead went looking for Cascara and Rigo. He later related to his family that he found the two at is house. They told him they were looking for him because they wanted to talk to him about the Bantay Bayan. They taunted him and asked him if he was afraid of them, which he asmitted. Later that evening, according to family members, Bongcoza appeared anxious and depressed, and spoke as if he expected he would die. At about 830PM, he went out to smoke a cigarette on the step ladder leading to the front entrance of his daughter's house. At that moment, he was shot once in the head, and died instantly. His daughter, wgo was inside the house, saw the flash of a shot blast in the dark, but did not see the gunmen. Neighbors reported hearing the footfalls of two or three individuals running away from the house.
Family members believed that the Military man, Cascara, abd the CAFGU man, Rigo, were responsible for the killing. As of January 1992, the family had not filed charges because of fear of reprisal. They believed the Military continued to keep them under surveillance because one of Bongcoza's sons was an NPA member. Rigo, the CAFGU member, continued to move freely about the community of Kabalalahan. Cascara was disarmed after he confessed to the killing of another CAFGU, in a neighboring town a few months after the killing of Bongcoza. However, he had still not been prosecuted and was reportedly often seen at the local cockfighting gallery in the municipal center.
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Killing in Custody
A neighbor and local official described the killing of Virgilio Bongcales, a 35 year old resident in an outlying village of the provincial capital of Butuan City, by a combined group of two CAFGU members and a locak Philippine Constabulary seargent charged with supervising them. Bongcales' brother, Carmelo Bongcales, witnessed the events that resulted in his brother's killing.
On January 2, 1991 at around 2PM two CAFGU members identified as Melchor Jovita and Lando Trinidad went to Bongcales' home in the village of Salvacion and asked Bongcales to accompany them back to the 411th PC Company barracks to settle a longstanding dispute between Bongcales and another local resident. Bongcales' brother Carmelo joined the three. The detachment is located by the side of the Agusan River.
Jovita and Reinidad were among the CAFGU recruited and trained by the 30th IB in 1988, but the battalion was withdrawn after residents complained of abuses by the soldiers. The CAFGU, some of whom are said to be former CHDF, remained under the 411th PC Company.
At the barracks, the two CAFGU did not permit Carmelo to enter with Bongcales. After 15 minutes, Carmelo suddenly heard gunshots coming from the riverbank. He ran to a cliff overlooking the river and, from a distance of about 300 feet, watched as the PC officer, idemtified as Sgt.Britania, standing on the bank with his M16 rifle aimed at Bongcales who was thrashing about in the middle of the river. Britania aimed and fired his rifle at the water near Bongcales, laughing and shouting at him to swim back. But Bongcales could not swim, amd he screamed that he would never be able to swim back. Slowly, he was swept downstream by the current.
Bongcales' relatives reported the incident to the main PC Headquarters in Butuan City, but said their complaint was ignored and they were told to go home. Bongcales' body was recovered two days later at a village a few miles downstream. A photograph taken at the time showed obvious bruises on his right forearm and ribs, and a cut to his right eye. Additionaly, an autopsy performed by a Government medical officer found three front teeth missing, and a fracture to the rear of the skull, indicating that he had been struck with a heavy object.
A few weeks later, the PC Sergeant Britania approached the Bongcales family and offered them 12,000 Pesos ($500) to "keep quiet." The family, although poor peasant farmers, refused the money. In March, rumors began circulating that they might be "Kuotkuot," or killed by smothering. Six members of the family immediately fled to Manila to a relative's home.
The family was particularly afraid that the CAFGU would kill them in reprisal if they testified against Sergeant Britania. The local official explained, "They had heard from people in a neighboring village that the Government troops threatened members of the family of a victim. And they do that to you by charging you as an NPA sympathizer."
In October, a brother of Bongcales who had been actively pushing for filing the case was stabbed and killed in Davao City. The family believed the killing was related to Bongcales' death, but no additional details of that case were currently available. As of January 1992, despite a Government autopsy, the Government had not investigated or filed charges in the case.
Killings While in Unacknowledged Military Custody
Two prominent members of the farmers' organization, UMAN, were found dead after unidentified Military men picked them up just outside of the provincial capital on February 24, 1991. Information from witnesses' affadavits and locak human rights monitors ubdicate that the two...
pp32
...Bernardo Lagurin and Miguel Calso,may have been killed for their high profile involvement with UMAN. The organization has been openly and repeatedly branded as a zlfront" organization. Lagurin, 41, a resident of the neighboring province of Agusan del Sur, was an agricultural engineer who had been working as a consultant to UMAN; Calso, 29, a farmer, was the General Sevretary of UMAN in Butuan City.
A witness, Desederia Pabas, also a staff member of UMAN, was riding with the two on the same passenger jeep when the two were abducted. In her affadavit filed with the Provincial Prosecutor, she said that the abduction occurred at about 4PM that afternoon, while the three were making the regular commute from Ampayan, where the main UMAN office is located, back to the city center.
At that time, Pabas noticed a private jeep tailing their vehicle. Then the jeep passed the vehicle and stopped in front of it, forcing the jeep that Pabas and the others were riding in to stop as well. The jeep had no liscence plate. Three men jumped out and approached the passenger vehicle. Two of the men carried pistols, and one an Armalite rifle. One wore a fatigue uniform with no nameplate. The three looked inside the rear of the passenger jeep and ordered Lagurin and Calso to get out. They asked all of the other passengers if there were any more companions of Calso and Lagurin in the jeep. Pabas believed she was spared because a passenger responded that the two had been traveling alome. Then the men took Calso and Lagurin and led them at gunpoint into the waiting jeep.
The following day, the relatives of both victims went to the Police Headquarters and Central Police Station in Butuan City to inquire about the two mens' whereabouts, but police officials said that Calso and Lagurin were not in their custody. That same day, residents of a neighborhood in Cagayan del Oro City, three hours distant from Butuan City, found the two bodies at dawn in an empty field. According to local news reports, three hours before, at around 2AM, residents recalled hearing a succession of gunbursts coming from the field, amd seeing a vehicle speeding away from the scene.
Three days later, relatives identified the the dead as Calso and Lagurin. Color photographs and police reports confirmed that both had been shot in the forehead- Calso twice- and several times in the chest at close range.
CAFGU Killings in Bukidnon
The province of Bukidnon is no longer home to an active insurgency. In December 1991, the last remaining political detainees in the province were rleased. A local Military Commander estimated that only roughly 70 fully armed rebels exist in the province, mostly in the still forested hills above the municipality of Valencia. Military and Church leaders said the NPA is weak in Bukidnon because it has less civilian support or sympathy than in other provinces. In the 1970s and early 1980s, much of Central Bukidnon was controlled by the NPA. But in contrast with Eastern, where abuses by Government forces drove many to support the NPA, abuses by NPA forces in Bukidnon caused the insurgency to self destruct. Between 1982 and 1984, Church Leaders said, hundreds of people died in brutal "purging" campaigns by the rebels. The rebel forces weakened, and have not recovered their strength to the present.
Guinoyoran and Lourdes are two neighboring farming settlements roughly 8 miles southwest of the municipal center of Valencia, at the foot of a partially forested mountain ranger. Most residents engage in subsistence farming, but in upland communities, residents engage in small scale logging , called "Tablon-Tablon." Since 1989, all logging has been illegal in the province, but this has not stopped logging in the western most communities in Guioyoran.
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Perhaps because of its remoteness and proximity to forest cover, rebel forces are more active in the area than in other parts of Bukidnon. In 1986, the military battalion stayioned in Valencia began recruiting a team of CHDF forces. The core of their recruits was a group of former rebels. In 1988, many of them joined a Right Wing armed fanatic cult, led by a local tribal Higaonon leader, Datu Bantu Domia. The group, knows as the "Tadtad," is said to be responsible for a series of killings and forced evictions in the settlement (the "Tadtad," translated "Chopchop," are so known because of the group's preference for use of long knives, or "bolos," in hacking enemies).
Even the Church could not quell the violence in Guinoyoran and Lourdes. In 1989, Father Arsenio Rubio was withdrawn from the parish after receiving nu$erous death threata and harassment from the gang. In 1990, the subsequent parish priest, Father Diosdado Tabios, also had to be transferred because of threats. In 1991, a priest newly stationed in the parish, Father Neri Satur, also received threats, but chose to continue work in the parish. In October, he was shot and bludgeoned by members of the grouP, some of whom were CAFGU members.
Killing of an Environmentalist Priest by CAFGU and Paramilitary
Extensive court testimony by witnesses and interviews with local officials painted a complex picture of the planning and assassination of Father Satur. Perpetrators were said to be a group of CAFGU and Tadtad members under the orders of a Military Intelligence officer.
At noon on October 14, 1991, Satur and a Church worker, Lacqueline Lunzaga, were making their way home by motorbike on a dusty, rugged road after saying Mass in a remote community of Guinoyoran. Suddenly, three men, two of them masked, lunged into the road ahead and opened fire. After emptying seven bullets into the priest, one of the gunmen crushed the prone victim's head with three blows of his rifle butt, breaking the rifle in two. Lunzaga was struck by one bullet and escaped death.
Several days later, two men, both CAFGU and Tadtad members, fled to the Provincial Bishop's Residence, for unclear reasons. The two men, Guillermo Ipanag and Carliti Baraquil, filed affidavits confessing their involvement in the planning of the killing, but not in its execution. The two men said the priest was killed because of gis strident opposition to illegal logging in his parish. They also said the Tadtad leader considered the priest a nuisance because of his efforts to prosecute a local vigilante member, Allan Cesar Abests, for the killing of a Guinoyoran resident earlier that year.
In their sworn testimony, the two men named three others, a CAFGU member and two members of the Tadtad, as the triggerman; and they asserted that a Military Intelligence officer was the mastermind behind the killing.
By January, 1992, the Provincial Prosecutor had filed charges against the three, Datu Bantu Domia, Allan Cesar Abesta and Crispin Onor, and the military officer, Sgt.Catalino Gabison. The Military, in retaliation, filed murder charges against the two original confessors, and denied involvement of Gabison and the others.
The killing of the priest led to an unprecedented level of international attention to human rights concerns in the area. Satur was one of the first of 46 parish priests deputized by the Government to confiscate illegal shipments of lumber and to apprehend illegal loggers. The action was taken after the Diocese of Malaybalay protested that the logging was continuing despite a total ban since December 1988. The Church had been involved in environmental campaigns against logging for several years.
Several other priests interviewed by Human Rights Watch had also received threats threats since they began their campaigns against logging, Father Cirilo "Loloy" Sajelan, parish ptiest of the municipal center of Valencia received threats three times in 1991 after confiscating shipments of lumber. Father Rino Bargola, Parish Priest of Barangay of San Jose...
pp34
...Sinayawan, had been threatened twice. Both priests said soldiers, CAFGU, and prominent local buisnessmen were involved in the illegal logging rings. Local news reports also pointed to official involvement in illegal logging. In order to protect themselves from being killed, priests in early 1992 travelled to confiscation sites accompanied by local police officers and parishoners.
CAFGU or Military Mercenaries?
Interviews with local government, military, and Church officials revealed that the six suspects in Father Satur's killing, Sgt.Catalino Gabison, Datu Bantu Domia, Crispin Onor, Allan Cesar Abesta, Guillermo Inpanag, and Carlio Baraquil, had a long and productive association with each other in local counterinsurgency campaigns,0In exchange for leading ambushes of nearly two dozen ambushes of nearby NPQ hideouts and guiding Military patrols, members of the gang received large cash "prizes" from the Military and engaged in extortion and killings without punishment.
In 19911, for example, the local Tadtad and rebel-returnees-turned-CAFGU led a detachment led by Sgt.Gabison of the 26th Infantry Battalion in a sucessful ambush killing of six New People's Army rebels. For leading the ambush, the group eas given P100,000 ($2,500). In his sworn testimony before the provincial trial court, ine of the co-accused, Guillermo Ipamag, an Active Duty CAFGU member and member of the Tadtad gang, referred to this exchange at a meeting with a large group of Tadtaf members, CAFGU, and Militsry men.
"I was informed that the checks or prize for the killing of the NPA rebels were ready encashed and turned over to the Military Brigade in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, and... were ready for distribution to us who participated in the killing if these NPAs."
Despite repeated calls by the diocese, local residents, and human rights groups, the Military have chosen not to disarm the group. When asked why the Military have not discharged the CAFGU in Guinoyoran despite their notoriety. Colonel Rodolfo Rocamora completely denied that the CAFGU was responsible for killings and terror in the community. Those responsible were a few whom he said were as "Assets." The "people in the area were satisfied with the CAFGU there," he asserted. If there were any residents carrying arms who were not CAFGU, "they would be arrested and disarmed."
Other Killings by CAFGU and Paramilitart
Numerous other killings in Lourdes and Guinoyoran received little exposure, and some of the CAFGU and. Vigilante members responsible remained at large in January 1992.
The group of CAFGU and Tadtad members accused in Satur's death have also been implicated in numerous killings of local residentdzm Some of the victims were suspected supporters of the NPA. Other victims appeared to be targetted randomly, or because of a personal feud. Residents interviewed by local human rights monitors said they had been forced to provide food to both rebel forces and the local vigilante and CAFGU members since 1988. They said they were afraid to complain to local officials, since they were themselves suspect under the broad brush of the military's counterinsurgency campaign there.
By January 1992, twelve killings by the group had been documented by local human rights groups.
pp35
The Commission on Human Rights regional office
in Cagayan del Oro City estimated that 15 had been killed, but its lawyers had only investigated three of the more recent incidents. In two of the cases, perpetrators had been convicted of murder charges. However, most of the perpetrators are thought to remain armed and at large. Cases for which documentation exists include the following:
-The bodies of Martin Cabusas and Warlito Paraiso were found shot, hacked, and stabbed on March 28, 1987. Family members said the two had been under surveillance of the local CHDF members since they were labeled as NPA by Romeo Abesta, a former rebel turned CHDF, turned CAFGU, who as of January 1992 was in prison for a subsequent murderm
-Felipe Camarillo, a farmer in the community of Magsal, in the village of Guinoyoran, was shot to death on December 7, 1988. The killers were believed to be Tadtad members from the village of Lourdes.
-George Bahian, a farmer also in Magsal, was shot and killed and another resident, Francisco Tadiamon was injured on December 30, 1988 by Romeo Abesta, Enrico Domia, and Andrew Largo, all Tadtad and concurrent CAFGU members under Datu Bantu Domia. After the shooting, the flesh of Bahia's thighs and legs were sliced off.
Sabeniano Borres, a farmer and Church worker in the village of Cawasan was shot on Febuary 3, 1989, while standing in front of the market. The assailants were members of the CHDF who suspected Borres as an NPA supporter. One suspect, the CAFGU member Romeo Abesta, turned himself in and was sentenced to six years in prison.
-Joel Eras, a farmer, was shot to death in Magsal on October 15, 1990, allegedly by CAFGU members identified as Judy Gamayon and one known only as Lito. The motive was unclear. The case was investigated by the CHR but was later closed without explanation.
Juliana Tadiamon- a resident of the village of Magsal, was shot and killed when her house was sprayed with bullets on November 22, 1990. Tadiamon was married to a farmer suspected of being an NPA. Witnesses refused to testify to local authorites because of fear of reprisals.
-Nasario Burlas, was shot and killed by a cousin of Romeo Abesta's, another CAFGU member known as "Boyet" Abesta, on Januart 13, 1991. The motive is unclear, although local human rights groups said Burias was suspected as an NPA. Abesta is still at large and the family has not bought charges. Two months later, he was implicated in a shooting of a young woman and a girl in the village of Magsal. The family did not file charges.
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(Synopsis)
Showing posts with label CAFGU Abuses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CAFGU Abuses. Show all posts
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
History of Mindanao, Part XX: Bad Blood: HRW Report on AFP Sponsored Paramilitaries in Caraga, 1991, Part 3
In this, my third and next to last installment on the Human Rights Watch, or HRW report, "Bad Blood: ," I will finish highlighting a critical part of Mindanaowan History. Covering the start of
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"Abduction and Mistreatment of Civilians by Militart anf CAFGU
Seven cases of maltreatment of civilians during a May 1991 military offensive were documented by Human Rights Watch.
pp21
In each case, CAFGU from Aurora, a village about five miles away from the site of the military operations, accompanied the soldiers from the 36th and 8th IBs, beyond the territory they are restricted to under the guidelines set up by the Government. The three CAFGU members who were positively identified were listed as active-duty CAFGU and were also listed as former CHDF in rosters filed at the Provincial Government offices.
Jose Abing
A farmer, Jose Abing, 29, asserted in a May 20th, 1991 affadavit filed with the Provincial Prosecutor that he was tortured after he was picked up in an area of recent military operationa by a group of CAFGU members and soldiers in the village of New Visayas, in the town of Prosperidad.
At 8AM on May 2nd, 1991, Abing was picked up at his farm by soldiers from the 36th and the 8th IBs accompanied by nine CAFFU members, whom he identified as Felipe Rodriguez, Leonicio Ebanez, Helimon Ebanez, and six known only as Abawan, Rolly, Benben, Tony Carting, and Doloy Guyay. He stated that the CAFGU grabbed him and hung him upside down out of the window of Abing's own house. Then they forced Abing to drink a half-gallon of vinager. Soon afterwards, the CAFGU released him and left, taking his rooster and his neighbour's chickens.
Abduction of Six Residents
Two farmers from the village of New Visayas, witin the municipality of Prosperidad stated in a joint affadavit that they were picked up by a group of CAFGU members and soldiers from the 36th and 8th IBs and tortured on suspicion that they were NPA rebels.
In their May 20th affadavit filed with the Provincial Prosecutor, Jaime Baluyos, 27, and Bonifacio Gabuya, 21, stated that they were forcibly taken out of their homes on May 4th, 1991 at 530AM. They asserted that they were shown no warrant of arresr and that they had not committed any crime (under Philippine Law, warrantless arrests are considered legal if the arresting officer has grounds to believe that the suspect is a member of the Communist Party or the NPA). They stated that they were also repeatedly punched and kicked by nine CAFGU members, identified by name as the same men who apprehended Jose Abing (above). Their Commander, a Sergeant Felasol og the 36th IB, looked on but did not stop the beatingsm
Afterwards, the CAFGU bound their hands and tied a noose around Baluyo's and Gabuya's necks, using nylon rope. In this manner, they were marched overland to the village of Cecilia, in the town of San Luis, about seven miles away. When they arrived, they were given food, but every time they tried to swallow, the soldiers yanked their nooses tight. Then a soldier, a member of the 8th Infantry Battalion, approached the two with a knife and threatened to cut off their ears, but was restrained by the others, who said the two were needed as guides. Later, however, they were released for no apparent reason.
A day later, four residents, a farmer, name withheld, was abducted along with his son, his neighbor, and his neighbor's son by military forces on May 5th, 1991.
The farmer recounted that the four were apprehended at their house, about a mile and a half from the center of the village of Muritula. The site of the incident was only roughly a mile from Cecilia, the village named in the May 4th incident above. Muritula is about six miles north of the municipal center of San Luis.
In the weeks immediately preceding this abduction, troops belonging to the 36th IB based in the village center had been waging an offensive against supposed NPA guerillas in the area. During the offensive, the farmer claimed, the military ransacked their peasant cooperative store. At the time, the farmer and his family had fled their farm for the evacuation center in San Luis town center. But food ran low, so he decided to return with his eldest son Larry on May 5th, 1991 to retreive some corn and mill it with his wooden mill. A neighbor, Cresensio Ando, 38, and his son also returned to receive some of their harvest.
Upon leaving the mill that afternoon at about 440PM, the four suddenly encountered between 45 and 60 military men, a composite team from the 36th Infantry Battalion and the CAFGU detachment. The leaders approached...
pp22
...the farmers and took their sacks of corn. Upon questioning, the four said the corm was for their families, but the military insisted the food was for the NPAs.
"There were so many soldiers that it seemed like wherever I looked, there was the color of uniforms. I was shaking with fear, because they were pointing their firearms at us. I thought to myself, what can I di to stop my being kiLled?" the farmer recalled.
The soldiers accused the men of feeding the NPA, and the four responded that they had done so at times in the past, but had no choice. Then, the farmer watched as four of the soldiers, one with the name patch that read "Cornello," the other "Reyes," began kicking Anda all over his body while accusing him of being an NPA "murderer."
The four were ordered to accompany the troops on their march northwards. Over the next 14 days, they continued to be held in custody. They accompanied the troops by foot for 20 miles, and were used several times as guides in the military's search for rebel hideouts. At the military encampment, they were ordered to do the daily cooking and cleaning.
No charges were presented during their 15 day abduction, in violation of laws limiting detention without charges for 36 hours. On May 19th, after more interrogation, the four were released in Bayugan, a municipality about 30 miles north of San Luis. One of the four, Cresensio Anda, filed an affadavit a week later in San Francisco (San Franz), Agusan del Sur. As of January, 1992, the Provincial Prosecutor haf still not brought charges against the 36th IB. The farmer said he wanted to press charges, but probably would not do so. "I have no experience in filing a case," he said, "and I must admit, I'm scared too because the military aand CAFGU are still there in my neighborhood."
Dante Marevilles
A week later in Muritula, a fifth resident, Dante Marevillas, 25, asserted in a May 25th affadavit that he, too, was picked up by two members if the 36th Infantry Battalion at 6AM on May 14th outside Muritula. He stated that the two accused him of being an NPA sniper responsible for an ambush in their village. He denied the allegation, and the two responded by binding his wrists and ankles with plastic coated wire. Then Marevilles was repeatedly kicked, poked, and humiliated. The soldiers then stapled fliers to his ears. Marevilles was released later the same day. He has since gone into hiding.
CAFGU Abuses in San Miguel
San Miguel is a dusty frontier town located in one of the least populated , wildest corners of Northeast Mindanao. In the 1970s to early 1980s, San Miguel, like much of the province of Surigao del Sur, was largely under the sway of the insurgent "shadow" government, backed by hundreds of armed, barefoot rebels under the command of a former Catholic priest, Father Francisco Navarro.
In late January 1992, the town was in a state of military occupation. In more remote communities, soldiers were lodging in residents' homes; until early January, troops had also been encamped right in front of the central primary school. Military officials pointed to Surigao del Sur as a focal point in the Government's counterinsurgency campaign, and weekly reports of military encounters in San Miguel found their way into regional newspapers, which were not available to local residents, and onto radio, which was. There were also stories describing the elaborately staged "surrender" ceremonies of entire communities, which military officials used to back up claims that they were winning the war.
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Local officials concurred that the NPA had indeed lost ground in San Miguel in 1991, but military officials estimated that there were still between 500 and 700 more rebels in the area; police officials said 60% of villages, or "barangays," were controlled or infiltrated by the Communist Party. In one instance on July 25, 1991, roughly 250 rebels waged simultaneous attacks on a barangay and the municipal hall in downtown San Miguel, resulting in four military and six civilian deaths and the wounding of 19 others.
The military's success in beating back the insurgency, however, had its costs. The continued proximity of active rebel forces had legitimized the military's almost complete dominance over civilian authorities. Village officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Human Rights Watch they had lost authority over police and civic functions and were afraid of reprisals should they complain. Tainted by long associations withthe rebels, they were unwilling to speak out against abuses by drunken or abusive militia members.
By and large, the victims of assaults, harassment, and other threats continued to be members and leaders of legal peasant cooperatives and their supporters in the Church. In most cases documented by Human Rights Watch, the attackers belonged to the 62 member CAFGU in San Miguel. Meanwhile, the Military had plans to recruit and train an additional 88 members in 1992.
Abuses Against Peasant Organizations
The vast majority of San Miguels 30,000 residents are impoverished tenant farmers and small landholders, who eke out a meager subsistence cultivating rice, corn, and vegetables for family consumption. In early 1992, none of the town's 18 barangays had electricity or running water, and the few dirt roads connecting the farms to the market were often impassable during the six month long rainy season.
Poor peasants, driven by economic expediency and encouraged by an activist church, have organized community based farming cooperatives throughout San Miguel. Roughly ten percent of households had joined cooperatives affiliated with the local peasant organization, KAMAGTONG, which is a local chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), a national militant peasants' organization. The military had openly labeled these cooperatives as Communist-led or -infiltrated organizations. But the peasants, despite threats, maintaned and even strengthened the cooperatives, insisting that they had brought demonstrable improvements in people's standard of living.
Military and militia threats and harassment continued throughout 1991 and early 1992, despite the fact that several of the cooperatives had gained official legitimacy, obtaining loans from national and international lending organizations. In January 1992, soldiers raided a cooperative storage shed in Apique, San Miguel, seizing 46 sacks of rice. The battalion commander insisted that the rice was set aside as payment- in- kind for interest on a 200,000 Peso ($8,000) loan from the Land Bank, the national lending institution for agricultural development projectd.
Human Rights Watch documented several cases of abuse by militia in 1991, usually in the presence of, if not direct participation of, regular forces in San Miguel.
pp24
Rodrigo Princesa, a 38 year old farmer from the village of Santa Cruz, San Miguel, described how he was threatened and beaten unconscious by a group of CAFGU in the presence of their military commander. He said that at 4PM on December 16, he and a friend, Marcos Avila, went to a local storehouse owned by Ceding Galindo to get diesel fuel for Avila's bulldozer. Upon approaching the house, a neighbor told them that some CAFGU men from the local detachment and their commander from the 29IB were inside drinking.
The owner invited them in for a drink, so the two sat down in the kitchen, the next room away from where the militiamen were seated. All the militiamen were in uniform and armed with Garands, and were evidently drunk. One of the CAFGU members, Romy Cabacas, asked them to join the group for a drink and so Avila ordered a round of beer and joined the militiamen.
Princesa was nervous about joining the CAFGU, since he is a member of KAMAGTONG, and Princesa's neighbors had also told him there were rumors that he was going to be "salvaged," a term in the Philippines for Extra-Judicial Killings. But Princesa joined them around the small table so as not to appear rude. Later on in the evening, the cadre, Sergeant Alejandro "Al" Calooy, put his arm on Princesa's shoulder and drew him towards the door because he wanted to "have a talk." As Princesa approached the door, Jimmy Otera, a CAFGU member, grabbed Princesa by the neck and threw him down on the floor and began kicking Princesa's prone body. The other CAFGU members, identified as Eddie Roluna, Orly Orturo, and Romy Cabacas, immediately joined Otera. Sgt.Calooy stood by. Princesa lost consciousness momentarily.
While Princesa was lying on his back, Otero stomped on his abdomen and chest with enough force to break two ribs and leave bootprint shaped bruises on his chest. His cheeks, head, and legs were also bruised. Two months later, he had trouble breathing and was still unable to do farmwork.
At some point, the son of the resturant owner approached and helped Princesa stand up and get out of the house. Otero followed, laughing, and when Princesa was about 45 feet away from the store, Otera fired two shots in the air, shouting, "You brave man! You lousy NPA!"
The following day, Princesa reported the incident to a village councilman, who advised him to go to the Commission on Human Rights. He then filed an affadavit with the CHR. On November 18, Princesa sought the help of the local human rights monitor, who brought him to the provincial hospital in Tandag for x-rays and treatment.
Princesa and other community members interviewed said several of the attackers- Otera, Orturo, and Cabacas- are known as especially abusive when drunk. Human Rights monitors said Cabacas is implicated in a killing in a community a mile and a half away from Santa Cruz. Two months later, in January 1992, Otera, Cabacas, and Orturo were still listed as active duty CAFGU at the 29IB Headquarters. Calooy, of the 29IB, has himself been implicated in attacks on members of peasant cooperatives in San Miguel in 1990 and 1991.
Despite the fact that Calooy's battalion, the 29IB, had been transferred the month before, Calooy had stayed behind with the CAFGU unit he trained. Calooy was one of four commanders left behind with their CAFGU detachments according to military officials. The 29IB was transferred after its reputation was tarnished by numerous human rights abuses, including the unprovoked killing of two civilians and wounding of five in August 1990 in Libas Sud, a remote community of San Miguel (Multiple Murder charges were pending against the alleged leader of the attack, Lt.Felix Mangyao, after local government and Church investigators issued a report, "A Fact Finding Mission Report on the Massacre Incident in Barangay Libas Sud, San Miguel," Diocese of Tandag Justice and Peace Office, Surigao del Sur, Sept.20, 1990. The report strongly implicated the commanding officer and his company. Sixteen months after the shootings, victims in Libas Sud received Government funds for medical and burial fees from the Commission on Human Rights).
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Abduction and Beating of Two Farmers
The father of a farmer recounted the story of his son's abduction by two CAFGU members in June 26, 1991 in the municipal center of San Miguel. The son was also a member of KAMAGTONG.
A day before the incident, the NPA had waged a full scale attack on the town of San Miguel. One of the main targets of the attack was said to be a CAFGU member, Tony de Guzman, who resides in the town center. De Guzman escaped harm, but 14 were killed in the attack and de Guzman's close associate, CAFGU member Eddie Roluna, was one of 19 wounded.
On the evening of the incident, the man's son and two companions were waiting on a street corner in San Miguel for a ride to take them back to their homes in Bolhoon, about 10 miles away. At that time, they were approached by two armed men; they were CAFGU members Tony de Guzman, and de Guzman's son in law, nicknamed "Bodoy." De Guzman grabbed the young man by his face, and yelled, "You are one of the NPAs in that attack on San Miguel!" The young man denied it, and de Guzman began to punch him, striking his head and ear with his M14 rifle. Then he struck the victim's ribs, so hard that the rifle broke. The young man and his two companions were then forced into a dark alley. At that moment, however, an old woman passed by and looked their way. De Guzman ceased the beating, and let the three go, after warning them not to tell anyone about the incident.
The group recognized de Guzman and Bodoy. The two and a group of CAFGU members had passed through their neighborhood in Bolhoon several times in the past year, asking families if they were giving aid to the NPA. When they came, the man said, they stole things, like chickens. De Guzman always appeared to be the leader. The year before, Bodoy had been among those shot and injured in an NPA ambush in a neighboring community.
The father saw his son the morning after the attack. His head was bloody, and there were bruises on his chest. He had a cut above his right ear. The young man went into hiding soon after, and his whereabouts in January 1992 were unlnown.
Jaime Quieta
Jaime Quieta, 25, chairman of a local farmer's organization, described how a masked CAFGU member pressed a lit cigarette in his face in full view of the soldiers from the 29th IB, in Bolhoon, San Miguel. He and two neighbors said they were used as a shield by the Military's troops after the attack.
At 3AM on August 27, 1991, when the farmer and his wife awoke to the sound of dogs barking. At about 4, they peered out the window and saw that soldiers, about 30 of them, had surrounded their neighbor's house, about 40 feet distant. A few minutes later, soldiers surrounded Quieta's house and ordered the family outside. Quieta said the soldiers were in combat position, lying on the ground with rifles poised to fire on him. Three soldiers approached Quieta, with rifles drawn, and demanded to be shown the firearms and the two NPA rebels they had been told were in his house. Quieta repeatedly denied the claims. After several minutes of interrogation, during which he was not touched, one soldier told him, "If you don't admit these things, you better watch yourself."
Then the soldiers left him alone while they initiated a search of his house. At this point, a man wearing a white hood showing only his eyes approached Quieta. He was smoking a cigarette, "You'd better confess, because we have a reliable report," he told Quieta, and continued pressing him about the whereabouts of the rebels they had been told were in his house. Quieta protested again that he knew nothing and would answer no more questions. The man responded, "So you're good at answering questions," and grabbed his head pressing a lit cigarette into his face. Quieta recognized the voice as that of a CAFGU member, Tony de Guzman, who is familiar as a fish vendor in the neighborhood.
At that moment, a soldier, who Quieta presumed to be the Commanding Officer, ordered all the men in the neighborhood out of their houses. Ten of them were forced to line up in single file. "We were made to understand that we were going to walk with them to San Roque as a ahield because they thought the NPA wouldn't attack them if we were alongside," he said. The men marched with them up to San Roque, a village about two and a half miles away where they were encamped, and then released.
pp26
Quieta's neighbor, name withheld, recalled that, at about 3 that morning, men yelled at him to open his door. He refused because it was still dark and he was afraid. But the soldiers went around back, and, led by a CAFGU member, five of them broke through a hole above the kitchen door. The CAFGU man had a white mask beneath his military helmet but the neighbor recognized him right away as Tony de Guzman.
The witness said the soldiers, who were members of the 29th Infantry Battalion, pointed their firearms at him and asked him to tell them where the NPA rebels were hiding. He couldn't identify them, because he is illiterate and could not read their nameplates. He repeatedly denied having any knowledge of the NPA's whereabouts, and after several minutes the soldiers left and went to Quieta's house. A little while later, soldiers returned and ordered him out of the house. He was pushed into the road, where about eight men in the neighborhood were already gathered. There were between 20 and 50 soldiers, he said. One man was sent to wake the village head. When the head came out, the commanding officer asked "permission" to bring the men along as escorts on their route back to the detachment, adding that none of the men would be hurt. A second neighbor corroborated Quieta's and the first neighbor's story.
The shielding incident clearly violated International Laws of War. Under Protocol I, Article 51, Number 7 of the Optional Protocols of the Geneva Conventions, to which the Philippines is signatory.
"Parties to the conflict shall not direct the movement of the civilian population or individual civilians in order to attempt to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield military operations."
Col.Santos Gabison Jr., who was stationed in Bolhoon at the time of the incident, told Human Rights Watch that his troops did not use civilians as a shield.
The incident also illustrated how the local CAFGU- in this case, Tony de Guzman- were used to pinpoint and "rough up" local residents suspected of sympathies for the NPA.
Col.Gabison, however, denied that de Guzman was present during that operation. De Guzman, he said, "was not utilized by us on that occaison. I told my people we should not be utilizing him."
Several community leaders interviewed by Human Rights Watch recalled that during the past three years, Tony de Guzman had physically assaulted several of them, whom he pinpointed as NPA rebels. De Guzman abducted a local resident, Jesus Martinez, in 1986, while de Guzman was with the CHDF. According to a relative of Martinez, the victim was later found floating dead in the Tago River. "But that was before there were human rights investigators," she said.
Local Church council memembers and human rights monitors were also able to identify a dozen separate victims allegedly killed by Tony de Guzman over the past seven years. All of those killed were farmers suspected of being NPA. In most cases described, the victims were taken from their houses, and later found dead by a single shot in the head. In one case in 1986, de Guzman was suspected of setting a hut on fire, incinerating an elderly couple inside.
De Guzman is known throughout the area. He is often seen wearing a red headscarf, and people say he carries a human kneecap as a talisman to make him impenetrable to bullets. His background as a fish peddler and passenger motorbike driver made de Guzman familiar with the remotest settlements, and may explain why he has often been used as a guide in military ambushes of the NPA.
Lack of Accountability
According to Military officials, the CAFGU commanding officer and the local civilian leaders are supposed to share supervision of the CAFGU troops. In San Miguel, it sometimes seemed as if noone was in charge.
When asked about disciplining the CAFGU recruits currently stationed in San Miguel, the commander of the newly posted 67th Infantry Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Jose Barbieto, told Human Rights Watch that he was not authorised to discharge or punish abusive militia; the 29th Infantry Battalion, which had just been transferred to a post 20 miles away, "did not cede to us the discipline of these CAFGUs," he said.
pp27
However, Barbieto's testimony was directly contradicted by that of the commander of the 29th IB in Tandag. Maj.Esperidion Balintag. Balintag said his battalion was no longer in charge of the discipline and punishment of the CAFGUs in San Miguel.
Noone wanted to take responsibility for CAFGU member Tony de Guzman. Military officials told Human Rights Watch that de Guzman was discharged from Active Duty CAFGU service on August 1, 1990, by orders of the Regional Command. However, this contradicted both the eyewitness reports of residents in Bolhoon, as well as the statemnts by the Mayor of the town of San Miguel and other local officials, who asked that their names not be used. Mayor Josite T.Elizalde asserted that de Guzman was one of fourteen CAFGU members posted in the town center. In 1990, he was discharged. But in July 1991, after the NPA staged its attack in San Miguel, he was re-activated. He could recall numerous abuses by de Guzman from his constituents, but he said de Guzman was "out of his hands."
"For the civilians, he's so hostile," explained Elizalde. "But for the Military he's an Asset."
"Forced Surrender," Forced Recruitment of Village Guards
CAFGU abuses in San Miguel took place in a climate of widespread military coercion and intimidation of civilians and challenges to civilian authority. Allegations of population control below appear to suggest that the Military would not tolerate even the slightest dissent in areas of ongoing military operations.
Village Guards
Father Eligio Bianchi, San Miguel Parish Priest, described the forced recruitment of unarmed Vilage Guards, called the "Bantay Bayan." From July to November, 1991, after the NPA attacked the village of Siago and the town center of San Miguel, a 10PM to Dawn Curfew was instituted. All adult male residents in the "Puroks" of San Miguel , each purok representing 20 to 30 households, were enlisted into the local Bantay Bayan. Each purok was obliged to man checkpoints from 5PM to 5AM every night. In some cases, when soldiers found that a checkpoint was not manned, residents were punched, and in other cases, some were forced to work at the army detachment without pay. Those who failed to show up for work were accused of being sympathizers. "While the people were guarding the town, the soldiers were sleeping. It was keeping the people from their work because they were too overtired to work in the fields" Bianch said.
The Parish Council protested the formation of the Bantay Bayan in a press statement published September 12, 1991. A day later, the detachment commander of the 29th IB accused Bianchi of bringing rice to the NPA rebels and of owning a machinegun. Nothing came of the charges, perhaps because the battalion was transferred out in November, and replaced by the 67th IB.
Anti-Communist Seminars
The practice of holding Anti-Communist seminars culminating in a formal "surrender" of entire civilian communities in an explicit part of the Philippines Armed Forces counterinsurgency strategy. In the village of Santa Cruz, San Miguel, three residents, two of whom were members of local peasant cooperative, gave first hand accounts of how residents were forced to "surrender" to the Government in a village meeting, or "pulong-pulong" organized by the 67th IB on January 12, 1992.
The day before, military officers had gone to the local elementary school and told children to tell their parents that anyone over 12 had to come to the school for the pulong-pulong.
pp28
If they did not attend the military would assume that they were NPA. That same evening the soldiers went to the houses of the 15 individuals belonging to the peasant cooperative, which is suspected of being a rebel "front" organization. One 64 year old grandmother said her house was searched while the military interviewed her. Another, a 57 year old farmer and mother of 5, said the military insisted she had a code name and encouraged her and her husband to sign a paper, which, she was led to believe, identified her as a "rebel surrenderee." The soldiers assured the family that nothing would happen to them if they signed the paper, she said.
The chairman of the local peasant cooperative, Samuel Ravelo, 44, was also visited the evening before the meeting. The soldiers told him he was a "Communist" and he was made to believe that he would have "problems" if he failed to "surrender." He said it was the second time the community had been forced to "surrender," the first time being in 1986, when local forces led by Tony de Guzman led raids on local houses of suspected NPA supporters.
At the pulong-pulong, the officer in charge, a certain Corporal Rogelio, told the crowd that their cooperative was a "Communist System," and all were asked to sign "confessions" that they were rebel sympathisers. One person recalled. "The Military told us that we could not deny our support for the NPA, because they said they have a list with all of us in Santa Cruz and Sagbayan (a neighboring community).
Military Harassment
Local village officials of Ubas Sud, a remote settlement of 351 households also in San Miguel, said they had been continuously harassed since they had filed charges against a lieutenant from the 29th IB who allegedly killed 12 townspeople in a midnite raid in June 1990. In January, soldiers from the 67th IB came to each of their houses. The soldiers forced them to sign affadavits asserting that they were members of the NPA and that they were "surrendering" to the Government. The military told them that their community organizations, including a UNICEF sponsored children's program were rebel "front" organizations.
One local council member explained that noone was safe from suspicion. "The Military insists that we are all rebels," he said. "It all started in 1990, when we started filing human rights complaints against them. We really followed up, executing affadavits. If we complain against the war, then we must be rebels."
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Part 4, the final part in this series will be posted shortly.
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pp20 (continued)
"Abduction and Mistreatment of Civilians by Militart anf CAFGU
Seven cases of maltreatment of civilians during a May 1991 military offensive were documented by Human Rights Watch.
pp21
In each case, CAFGU from Aurora, a village about five miles away from the site of the military operations, accompanied the soldiers from the 36th and 8th IBs, beyond the territory they are restricted to under the guidelines set up by the Government. The three CAFGU members who were positively identified were listed as active-duty CAFGU and were also listed as former CHDF in rosters filed at the Provincial Government offices.
Jose Abing
A farmer, Jose Abing, 29, asserted in a May 20th, 1991 affadavit filed with the Provincial Prosecutor that he was tortured after he was picked up in an area of recent military operationa by a group of CAFGU members and soldiers in the village of New Visayas, in the town of Prosperidad.
At 8AM on May 2nd, 1991, Abing was picked up at his farm by soldiers from the 36th and the 8th IBs accompanied by nine CAFFU members, whom he identified as Felipe Rodriguez, Leonicio Ebanez, Helimon Ebanez, and six known only as Abawan, Rolly, Benben, Tony Carting, and Doloy Guyay. He stated that the CAFGU grabbed him and hung him upside down out of the window of Abing's own house. Then they forced Abing to drink a half-gallon of vinager. Soon afterwards, the CAFGU released him and left, taking his rooster and his neighbour's chickens.
Abduction of Six Residents
Two farmers from the village of New Visayas, witin the municipality of Prosperidad stated in a joint affadavit that they were picked up by a group of CAFGU members and soldiers from the 36th and 8th IBs and tortured on suspicion that they were NPA rebels.
In their May 20th affadavit filed with the Provincial Prosecutor, Jaime Baluyos, 27, and Bonifacio Gabuya, 21, stated that they were forcibly taken out of their homes on May 4th, 1991 at 530AM. They asserted that they were shown no warrant of arresr and that they had not committed any crime (under Philippine Law, warrantless arrests are considered legal if the arresting officer has grounds to believe that the suspect is a member of the Communist Party or the NPA). They stated that they were also repeatedly punched and kicked by nine CAFGU members, identified by name as the same men who apprehended Jose Abing (above). Their Commander, a Sergeant Felasol og the 36th IB, looked on but did not stop the beatingsm
Afterwards, the CAFGU bound their hands and tied a noose around Baluyo's and Gabuya's necks, using nylon rope. In this manner, they were marched overland to the village of Cecilia, in the town of San Luis, about seven miles away. When they arrived, they were given food, but every time they tried to swallow, the soldiers yanked their nooses tight. Then a soldier, a member of the 8th Infantry Battalion, approached the two with a knife and threatened to cut off their ears, but was restrained by the others, who said the two were needed as guides. Later, however, they were released for no apparent reason.
A day later, four residents, a farmer, name withheld, was abducted along with his son, his neighbor, and his neighbor's son by military forces on May 5th, 1991.
The farmer recounted that the four were apprehended at their house, about a mile and a half from the center of the village of Muritula. The site of the incident was only roughly a mile from Cecilia, the village named in the May 4th incident above. Muritula is about six miles north of the municipal center of San Luis.
In the weeks immediately preceding this abduction, troops belonging to the 36th IB based in the village center had been waging an offensive against supposed NPA guerillas in the area. During the offensive, the farmer claimed, the military ransacked their peasant cooperative store. At the time, the farmer and his family had fled their farm for the evacuation center in San Luis town center. But food ran low, so he decided to return with his eldest son Larry on May 5th, 1991 to retreive some corn and mill it with his wooden mill. A neighbor, Cresensio Ando, 38, and his son also returned to receive some of their harvest.
Upon leaving the mill that afternoon at about 440PM, the four suddenly encountered between 45 and 60 military men, a composite team from the 36th Infantry Battalion and the CAFGU detachment. The leaders approached...
pp22
...the farmers and took their sacks of corn. Upon questioning, the four said the corm was for their families, but the military insisted the food was for the NPAs.
"There were so many soldiers that it seemed like wherever I looked, there was the color of uniforms. I was shaking with fear, because they were pointing their firearms at us. I thought to myself, what can I di to stop my being kiLled?" the farmer recalled.
The soldiers accused the men of feeding the NPA, and the four responded that they had done so at times in the past, but had no choice. Then, the farmer watched as four of the soldiers, one with the name patch that read "Cornello," the other "Reyes," began kicking Anda all over his body while accusing him of being an NPA "murderer."
The four were ordered to accompany the troops on their march northwards. Over the next 14 days, they continued to be held in custody. They accompanied the troops by foot for 20 miles, and were used several times as guides in the military's search for rebel hideouts. At the military encampment, they were ordered to do the daily cooking and cleaning.
No charges were presented during their 15 day abduction, in violation of laws limiting detention without charges for 36 hours. On May 19th, after more interrogation, the four were released in Bayugan, a municipality about 30 miles north of San Luis. One of the four, Cresensio Anda, filed an affadavit a week later in San Francisco (San Franz), Agusan del Sur. As of January, 1992, the Provincial Prosecutor haf still not brought charges against the 36th IB. The farmer said he wanted to press charges, but probably would not do so. "I have no experience in filing a case," he said, "and I must admit, I'm scared too because the military aand CAFGU are still there in my neighborhood."
Dante Marevilles
A week later in Muritula, a fifth resident, Dante Marevillas, 25, asserted in a May 25th affadavit that he, too, was picked up by two members if the 36th Infantry Battalion at 6AM on May 14th outside Muritula. He stated that the two accused him of being an NPA sniper responsible for an ambush in their village. He denied the allegation, and the two responded by binding his wrists and ankles with plastic coated wire. Then Marevilles was repeatedly kicked, poked, and humiliated. The soldiers then stapled fliers to his ears. Marevilles was released later the same day. He has since gone into hiding.
CAFGU Abuses in San Miguel
San Miguel is a dusty frontier town located in one of the least populated , wildest corners of Northeast Mindanao. In the 1970s to early 1980s, San Miguel, like much of the province of Surigao del Sur, was largely under the sway of the insurgent "shadow" government, backed by hundreds of armed, barefoot rebels under the command of a former Catholic priest, Father Francisco Navarro.
In late January 1992, the town was in a state of military occupation. In more remote communities, soldiers were lodging in residents' homes; until early January, troops had also been encamped right in front of the central primary school. Military officials pointed to Surigao del Sur as a focal point in the Government's counterinsurgency campaign, and weekly reports of military encounters in San Miguel found their way into regional newspapers, which were not available to local residents, and onto radio, which was. There were also stories describing the elaborately staged "surrender" ceremonies of entire communities, which military officials used to back up claims that they were winning the war.
pp23
Local officials concurred that the NPA had indeed lost ground in San Miguel in 1991, but military officials estimated that there were still between 500 and 700 more rebels in the area; police officials said 60% of villages, or "barangays," were controlled or infiltrated by the Communist Party. In one instance on July 25, 1991, roughly 250 rebels waged simultaneous attacks on a barangay and the municipal hall in downtown San Miguel, resulting in four military and six civilian deaths and the wounding of 19 others.
The military's success in beating back the insurgency, however, had its costs. The continued proximity of active rebel forces had legitimized the military's almost complete dominance over civilian authorities. Village officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Human Rights Watch they had lost authority over police and civic functions and were afraid of reprisals should they complain. Tainted by long associations withthe rebels, they were unwilling to speak out against abuses by drunken or abusive militia members.
By and large, the victims of assaults, harassment, and other threats continued to be members and leaders of legal peasant cooperatives and their supporters in the Church. In most cases documented by Human Rights Watch, the attackers belonged to the 62 member CAFGU in San Miguel. Meanwhile, the Military had plans to recruit and train an additional 88 members in 1992.
Abuses Against Peasant Organizations
The vast majority of San Miguels 30,000 residents are impoverished tenant farmers and small landholders, who eke out a meager subsistence cultivating rice, corn, and vegetables for family consumption. In early 1992, none of the town's 18 barangays had electricity or running water, and the few dirt roads connecting the farms to the market were often impassable during the six month long rainy season.
Poor peasants, driven by economic expediency and encouraged by an activist church, have organized community based farming cooperatives throughout San Miguel. Roughly ten percent of households had joined cooperatives affiliated with the local peasant organization, KAMAGTONG, which is a local chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), a national militant peasants' organization. The military had openly labeled these cooperatives as Communist-led or -infiltrated organizations. But the peasants, despite threats, maintaned and even strengthened the cooperatives, insisting that they had brought demonstrable improvements in people's standard of living.
Military and militia threats and harassment continued throughout 1991 and early 1992, despite the fact that several of the cooperatives had gained official legitimacy, obtaining loans from national and international lending organizations. In January 1992, soldiers raided a cooperative storage shed in Apique, San Miguel, seizing 46 sacks of rice. The battalion commander insisted that the rice was set aside as payment- in- kind for interest on a 200,000 Peso ($8,000) loan from the Land Bank, the national lending institution for agricultural development projectd.
Human Rights Watch documented several cases of abuse by militia in 1991, usually in the presence of, if not direct participation of, regular forces in San Miguel.
pp24
Rodrigo Princesa, a 38 year old farmer from the village of Santa Cruz, San Miguel, described how he was threatened and beaten unconscious by a group of CAFGU in the presence of their military commander. He said that at 4PM on December 16, he and a friend, Marcos Avila, went to a local storehouse owned by Ceding Galindo to get diesel fuel for Avila's bulldozer. Upon approaching the house, a neighbor told them that some CAFGU men from the local detachment and their commander from the 29IB were inside drinking.
The owner invited them in for a drink, so the two sat down in the kitchen, the next room away from where the militiamen were seated. All the militiamen were in uniform and armed with Garands, and were evidently drunk. One of the CAFGU members, Romy Cabacas, asked them to join the group for a drink and so Avila ordered a round of beer and joined the militiamen.
Princesa was nervous about joining the CAFGU, since he is a member of KAMAGTONG, and Princesa's neighbors had also told him there were rumors that he was going to be "salvaged," a term in the Philippines for Extra-Judicial Killings. But Princesa joined them around the small table so as not to appear rude. Later on in the evening, the cadre, Sergeant Alejandro "Al" Calooy, put his arm on Princesa's shoulder and drew him towards the door because he wanted to "have a talk." As Princesa approached the door, Jimmy Otera, a CAFGU member, grabbed Princesa by the neck and threw him down on the floor and began kicking Princesa's prone body. The other CAFGU members, identified as Eddie Roluna, Orly Orturo, and Romy Cabacas, immediately joined Otera. Sgt.Calooy stood by. Princesa lost consciousness momentarily.
While Princesa was lying on his back, Otero stomped on his abdomen and chest with enough force to break two ribs and leave bootprint shaped bruises on his chest. His cheeks, head, and legs were also bruised. Two months later, he had trouble breathing and was still unable to do farmwork.
At some point, the son of the resturant owner approached and helped Princesa stand up and get out of the house. Otero followed, laughing, and when Princesa was about 45 feet away from the store, Otera fired two shots in the air, shouting, "You brave man! You lousy NPA!"
The following day, Princesa reported the incident to a village councilman, who advised him to go to the Commission on Human Rights. He then filed an affadavit with the CHR. On November 18, Princesa sought the help of the local human rights monitor, who brought him to the provincial hospital in Tandag for x-rays and treatment.
Princesa and other community members interviewed said several of the attackers- Otera, Orturo, and Cabacas- are known as especially abusive when drunk. Human Rights monitors said Cabacas is implicated in a killing in a community a mile and a half away from Santa Cruz. Two months later, in January 1992, Otera, Cabacas, and Orturo were still listed as active duty CAFGU at the 29IB Headquarters. Calooy, of the 29IB, has himself been implicated in attacks on members of peasant cooperatives in San Miguel in 1990 and 1991.
Despite the fact that Calooy's battalion, the 29IB, had been transferred the month before, Calooy had stayed behind with the CAFGU unit he trained. Calooy was one of four commanders left behind with their CAFGU detachments according to military officials. The 29IB was transferred after its reputation was tarnished by numerous human rights abuses, including the unprovoked killing of two civilians and wounding of five in August 1990 in Libas Sud, a remote community of San Miguel (Multiple Murder charges were pending against the alleged leader of the attack, Lt.Felix Mangyao, after local government and Church investigators issued a report, "A Fact Finding Mission Report on the Massacre Incident in Barangay Libas Sud, San Miguel," Diocese of Tandag Justice and Peace Office, Surigao del Sur, Sept.20, 1990. The report strongly implicated the commanding officer and his company. Sixteen months after the shootings, victims in Libas Sud received Government funds for medical and burial fees from the Commission on Human Rights).
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Abduction and Beating of Two Farmers
The father of a farmer recounted the story of his son's abduction by two CAFGU members in June 26, 1991 in the municipal center of San Miguel. The son was also a member of KAMAGTONG.
A day before the incident, the NPA had waged a full scale attack on the town of San Miguel. One of the main targets of the attack was said to be a CAFGU member, Tony de Guzman, who resides in the town center. De Guzman escaped harm, but 14 were killed in the attack and de Guzman's close associate, CAFGU member Eddie Roluna, was one of 19 wounded.
On the evening of the incident, the man's son and two companions were waiting on a street corner in San Miguel for a ride to take them back to their homes in Bolhoon, about 10 miles away. At that time, they were approached by two armed men; they were CAFGU members Tony de Guzman, and de Guzman's son in law, nicknamed "Bodoy." De Guzman grabbed the young man by his face, and yelled, "You are one of the NPAs in that attack on San Miguel!" The young man denied it, and de Guzman began to punch him, striking his head and ear with his M14 rifle. Then he struck the victim's ribs, so hard that the rifle broke. The young man and his two companions were then forced into a dark alley. At that moment, however, an old woman passed by and looked their way. De Guzman ceased the beating, and let the three go, after warning them not to tell anyone about the incident.
The group recognized de Guzman and Bodoy. The two and a group of CAFGU members had passed through their neighborhood in Bolhoon several times in the past year, asking families if they were giving aid to the NPA. When they came, the man said, they stole things, like chickens. De Guzman always appeared to be the leader. The year before, Bodoy had been among those shot and injured in an NPA ambush in a neighboring community.
The father saw his son the morning after the attack. His head was bloody, and there were bruises on his chest. He had a cut above his right ear. The young man went into hiding soon after, and his whereabouts in January 1992 were unlnown.
Jaime Quieta
Jaime Quieta, 25, chairman of a local farmer's organization, described how a masked CAFGU member pressed a lit cigarette in his face in full view of the soldiers from the 29th IB, in Bolhoon, San Miguel. He and two neighbors said they were used as a shield by the Military's troops after the attack.
At 3AM on August 27, 1991, when the farmer and his wife awoke to the sound of dogs barking. At about 4, they peered out the window and saw that soldiers, about 30 of them, had surrounded their neighbor's house, about 40 feet distant. A few minutes later, soldiers surrounded Quieta's house and ordered the family outside. Quieta said the soldiers were in combat position, lying on the ground with rifles poised to fire on him. Three soldiers approached Quieta, with rifles drawn, and demanded to be shown the firearms and the two NPA rebels they had been told were in his house. Quieta repeatedly denied the claims. After several minutes of interrogation, during which he was not touched, one soldier told him, "If you don't admit these things, you better watch yourself."
Then the soldiers left him alone while they initiated a search of his house. At this point, a man wearing a white hood showing only his eyes approached Quieta. He was smoking a cigarette, "You'd better confess, because we have a reliable report," he told Quieta, and continued pressing him about the whereabouts of the rebels they had been told were in his house. Quieta protested again that he knew nothing and would answer no more questions. The man responded, "So you're good at answering questions," and grabbed his head pressing a lit cigarette into his face. Quieta recognized the voice as that of a CAFGU member, Tony de Guzman, who is familiar as a fish vendor in the neighborhood.
At that moment, a soldier, who Quieta presumed to be the Commanding Officer, ordered all the men in the neighborhood out of their houses. Ten of them were forced to line up in single file. "We were made to understand that we were going to walk with them to San Roque as a ahield because they thought the NPA wouldn't attack them if we were alongside," he said. The men marched with them up to San Roque, a village about two and a half miles away where they were encamped, and then released.
pp26
Quieta's neighbor, name withheld, recalled that, at about 3 that morning, men yelled at him to open his door. He refused because it was still dark and he was afraid. But the soldiers went around back, and, led by a CAFGU member, five of them broke through a hole above the kitchen door. The CAFGU man had a white mask beneath his military helmet but the neighbor recognized him right away as Tony de Guzman.
The witness said the soldiers, who were members of the 29th Infantry Battalion, pointed their firearms at him and asked him to tell them where the NPA rebels were hiding. He couldn't identify them, because he is illiterate and could not read their nameplates. He repeatedly denied having any knowledge of the NPA's whereabouts, and after several minutes the soldiers left and went to Quieta's house. A little while later, soldiers returned and ordered him out of the house. He was pushed into the road, where about eight men in the neighborhood were already gathered. There were between 20 and 50 soldiers, he said. One man was sent to wake the village head. When the head came out, the commanding officer asked "permission" to bring the men along as escorts on their route back to the detachment, adding that none of the men would be hurt. A second neighbor corroborated Quieta's and the first neighbor's story.
The shielding incident clearly violated International Laws of War. Under Protocol I, Article 51, Number 7 of the Optional Protocols of the Geneva Conventions, to which the Philippines is signatory.
"Parties to the conflict shall not direct the movement of the civilian population or individual civilians in order to attempt to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield military operations."
Col.Santos Gabison Jr., who was stationed in Bolhoon at the time of the incident, told Human Rights Watch that his troops did not use civilians as a shield.
The incident also illustrated how the local CAFGU- in this case, Tony de Guzman- were used to pinpoint and "rough up" local residents suspected of sympathies for the NPA.
Col.Gabison, however, denied that de Guzman was present during that operation. De Guzman, he said, "was not utilized by us on that occaison. I told my people we should not be utilizing him."
Several community leaders interviewed by Human Rights Watch recalled that during the past three years, Tony de Guzman had physically assaulted several of them, whom he pinpointed as NPA rebels. De Guzman abducted a local resident, Jesus Martinez, in 1986, while de Guzman was with the CHDF. According to a relative of Martinez, the victim was later found floating dead in the Tago River. "But that was before there were human rights investigators," she said.
Local Church council memembers and human rights monitors were also able to identify a dozen separate victims allegedly killed by Tony de Guzman over the past seven years. All of those killed were farmers suspected of being NPA. In most cases described, the victims were taken from their houses, and later found dead by a single shot in the head. In one case in 1986, de Guzman was suspected of setting a hut on fire, incinerating an elderly couple inside.
De Guzman is known throughout the area. He is often seen wearing a red headscarf, and people say he carries a human kneecap as a talisman to make him impenetrable to bullets. His background as a fish peddler and passenger motorbike driver made de Guzman familiar with the remotest settlements, and may explain why he has often been used as a guide in military ambushes of the NPA.
Lack of Accountability
According to Military officials, the CAFGU commanding officer and the local civilian leaders are supposed to share supervision of the CAFGU troops. In San Miguel, it sometimes seemed as if noone was in charge.
When asked about disciplining the CAFGU recruits currently stationed in San Miguel, the commander of the newly posted 67th Infantry Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Jose Barbieto, told Human Rights Watch that he was not authorised to discharge or punish abusive militia; the 29th Infantry Battalion, which had just been transferred to a post 20 miles away, "did not cede to us the discipline of these CAFGUs," he said.
pp27
However, Barbieto's testimony was directly contradicted by that of the commander of the 29th IB in Tandag. Maj.Esperidion Balintag. Balintag said his battalion was no longer in charge of the discipline and punishment of the CAFGUs in San Miguel.
Noone wanted to take responsibility for CAFGU member Tony de Guzman. Military officials told Human Rights Watch that de Guzman was discharged from Active Duty CAFGU service on August 1, 1990, by orders of the Regional Command. However, this contradicted both the eyewitness reports of residents in Bolhoon, as well as the statemnts by the Mayor of the town of San Miguel and other local officials, who asked that their names not be used. Mayor Josite T.Elizalde asserted that de Guzman was one of fourteen CAFGU members posted in the town center. In 1990, he was discharged. But in July 1991, after the NPA staged its attack in San Miguel, he was re-activated. He could recall numerous abuses by de Guzman from his constituents, but he said de Guzman was "out of his hands."
"For the civilians, he's so hostile," explained Elizalde. "But for the Military he's an Asset."
"Forced Surrender," Forced Recruitment of Village Guards
CAFGU abuses in San Miguel took place in a climate of widespread military coercion and intimidation of civilians and challenges to civilian authority. Allegations of population control below appear to suggest that the Military would not tolerate even the slightest dissent in areas of ongoing military operations.
Village Guards
Father Eligio Bianchi, San Miguel Parish Priest, described the forced recruitment of unarmed Vilage Guards, called the "Bantay Bayan." From July to November, 1991, after the NPA attacked the village of Siago and the town center of San Miguel, a 10PM to Dawn Curfew was instituted. All adult male residents in the "Puroks" of San Miguel , each purok representing 20 to 30 households, were enlisted into the local Bantay Bayan. Each purok was obliged to man checkpoints from 5PM to 5AM every night. In some cases, when soldiers found that a checkpoint was not manned, residents were punched, and in other cases, some were forced to work at the army detachment without pay. Those who failed to show up for work were accused of being sympathizers. "While the people were guarding the town, the soldiers were sleeping. It was keeping the people from their work because they were too overtired to work in the fields" Bianch said.
The Parish Council protested the formation of the Bantay Bayan in a press statement published September 12, 1991. A day later, the detachment commander of the 29th IB accused Bianchi of bringing rice to the NPA rebels and of owning a machinegun. Nothing came of the charges, perhaps because the battalion was transferred out in November, and replaced by the 67th IB.
Anti-Communist Seminars
The practice of holding Anti-Communist seminars culminating in a formal "surrender" of entire civilian communities in an explicit part of the Philippines Armed Forces counterinsurgency strategy. In the village of Santa Cruz, San Miguel, three residents, two of whom were members of local peasant cooperative, gave first hand accounts of how residents were forced to "surrender" to the Government in a village meeting, or "pulong-pulong" organized by the 67th IB on January 12, 1992.
The day before, military officers had gone to the local elementary school and told children to tell their parents that anyone over 12 had to come to the school for the pulong-pulong.
pp28
If they did not attend the military would assume that they were NPA. That same evening the soldiers went to the houses of the 15 individuals belonging to the peasant cooperative, which is suspected of being a rebel "front" organization. One 64 year old grandmother said her house was searched while the military interviewed her. Another, a 57 year old farmer and mother of 5, said the military insisted she had a code name and encouraged her and her husband to sign a paper, which, she was led to believe, identified her as a "rebel surrenderee." The soldiers assured the family that nothing would happen to them if they signed the paper, she said.
The chairman of the local peasant cooperative, Samuel Ravelo, 44, was also visited the evening before the meeting. The soldiers told him he was a "Communist" and he was made to believe that he would have "problems" if he failed to "surrender." He said it was the second time the community had been forced to "surrender," the first time being in 1986, when local forces led by Tony de Guzman led raids on local houses of suspected NPA supporters.
At the pulong-pulong, the officer in charge, a certain Corporal Rogelio, told the crowd that their cooperative was a "Communist System," and all were asked to sign "confessions" that they were rebel sympathisers. One person recalled. "The Military told us that we could not deny our support for the NPA, because they said they have a list with all of us in Santa Cruz and Sagbayan (a neighboring community).
Military Harassment
Local village officials of Ubas Sud, a remote settlement of 351 households also in San Miguel, said they had been continuously harassed since they had filed charges against a lieutenant from the 29th IB who allegedly killed 12 townspeople in a midnite raid in June 1990. In January, soldiers from the 67th IB came to each of their houses. The soldiers forced them to sign affadavits asserting that they were members of the NPA and that they were "surrendering" to the Government. The military told them that their community organizations, including a UNICEF sponsored children's program were rebel "front" organizations.
One local council member explained that noone was safe from suspicion. "The Military insists that we are all rebels," he said. "It all started in 1990, when we started filing human rights complaints against them. We really followed up, executing affadavits. If we complain against the war, then we must be rebels."
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Part 4, the final part in this series will be posted shortly.
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