'Torture not part of AFP policy'

Manila, Philippines - Torture and abusive practices are not part of the policy of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the military said yesterday.

AFP spokesman Commodore Miguel Rodriguez said the military does not tolerate human rights violations.

“We advocate respect for human rights,” he said. “We strengthened our advocacy for peace and human rights through our new security plan Bayanihan.”

Rodriguez said they would assist those who seek to probe allegations of wrongdoings attributed to military personnel.

“We will let justice take its course,” he said.

“We will cooperate with those who will conduct the investigations.”

Rodriguez said former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not tolerate human rights violations during her term.

“We never heard her (Arroyo) order us to violate human rights,” he said.

“She did not condone human rights violations. The same is true under the present administration.”

Palace to watch case vs GMA

Malacañang will monitor developments in the civil suit against Arroyo.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Palace cannot comment on the damage suit that the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) filed against Arroyo because it is not a party to the case.

“At this point, what we can say is like you (media), we are going to watch the case with interest,” she said.

“We don’t have the details and we don’t have the information, although we heard that there was a case filed.”

The UCCP has filed a P6-million damage suit against Arroyo for alleged human rights violations committed against its members during her nine-year administration.

The UCCP filed the complaint at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court through its general secretary and executive officer Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza.

It demanded from Arroyo P1 million for moral damages; P500,000 each for the relatives of the six alleged victims; P500,000 for exemplary damages and P300,000 each for litigation and lawyers’ fees.

Pastor Berlin Guerrero, who claimed that he was illegally arrested and detained by the military, demanded P300,000 in moral damages.

Other UCCP members who were supposedly victimized by military killings were UCCP disaster relief program coordinator Joel Baclao Sr. of Albay, UCCP pastor Edison Lapuz of Tacloban City, Noel Capulong, chairman of UCCP’s Christian Witness Program in Calamba, UCCP pastors Raul Domingo and Andy Pawican.

The supposed victims were slain within the period of 2004 to 2006.

NCCP backs UCCP suit

The National Council of Churches in the Philippine (NCCP) backed yesterday the UCCP human rights suit against Arroyo.

In a statement, Rev. Rex Reyes Jr., NCCP general secretary, lauded the UCCP and its pastors and church workers who have been victims of unexplained killings, warrantless arrests, illegal detention and other forms

of human rights violations.

“Something indeed is terribly wrong when pastors and church workers are killed,

arrested and detained or go missing while they are teaching people to know, defend and fight for their rights,” he said.

“The cry of our sisters and brothers unjustly vexed call on us today to stand firm and persist in demanding justice. The legal steps

that the UCCP is undertaking (are) a leap of faith, much more so in a system that shows

partiality to those in positions of wealth and power.”

The NCCP has 10 members: the UCCP, Apostolic Catholic Church, Convention

of Philippine Baptist Churches, Episcopal Church in the Philippines, Iglesia

Evangelica Metodista en Las Islas Filipinas, Iglesia Filipina Independiente,

Iglesia Unida Ekyumenikal, Lutheran Church in the Philippines, the Salvation

Army, and the United Methodist Church.

GMA leaves hospital

Arroyo, meanwhile, was discharged yesterday from St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City after an overnight confinement due to severe neck pain caused by a pinched nerve in her spine.

The former president was wearing a neck brace when discharged at around 3:30 p.m. She was mobbed by reporters but she just smiled at them.

She immediately proceeded to Guagua, Pampanga for her appointment with ambassadors for a tour of her province that included a river boat ride.

Dr. Juliet Gopez-Cervantes, Arroyo’s attending physician, said she can go back to her normal activities.

“But her neck movements are limited,” she said.

Former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo said his wife is doing better now. “Yesterday, she could not even move her neck,” he said.

He said she was given pain killers.

“Maybe it was caused by too much work,” he said.

Arroyo was also visited by her sons, Ang Galing Pinoy Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo and Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado Arroyo.

Some political allies and friends, including her spokesperson Ma. Elena Bautista-Horn, also visited her.

Arroyo was brought to the SLMC on Thursday morning after complaining of severe neck pain. She was diagnosed with a pinched nerve caused by a bone spur in her neck.

She refused to cancel scheduled aerobics sessions so her doctors advised her to limit her neck movements as much as possible. Doctors also allowed her to attend the wedding anniversary celebration of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and her husband Narciso tomorrow.

Arroyo is a workaholic who has to be often reminded to take it easy, Bautista-Horn said. —With Delon Porcalla, Evelyn Macairan, Paolo Romero