Two human rights activists killed in Oriental Mindoro

Masked men claiming to be anti-communist vigilantes abducted five Filipino human rights activists, two of whom were found dead and the other three rescued, officials said yesterday.

The five activists were abducted in Naujan in Mindoro Oriental province, about 150 km. southeast of Manila, on Monday, after their 12-member team conducted a probe into alleged abuses by the military in the area.

Human rights groups and communist New People‘s Army rebels suspect the military was behind the abductions and killings. The military has denied involvement.

Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, a spokesman for the military, said two of the workers were found dead yesterday while police rescued the three others.

According to reports, the victims, all members of the Karapatan group, were reportedly forcibly taken at about 7:30 p.m. along the provincial highway in Bongabong. The fate of the remaining five victims remained unknown as of yesterday. Details of the abduction is also being ascertained by authorities. Unconfirmed reports claimed that the suspects behind the abduction were reportedly military agents.

Karapatan, a cause-oriented group, is currently deeply involved in monitoring human rights violations committed mostly by members of the military and the police against civilians.

The groups based in the island province has consistently denounced and blamed military troops for salvaging and disappearance of civilians in the province.

Dani Beltran, deputy secretary general of the human rights group Karapatan, said the bodies of Eden Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy were found in Bansud, a town near Naujan. Marcellana, 31, was Karapatan’s secretary general for the Southern Tagalog region, while Gumanoy was the chairman of a farmers’ group in the same region.

Beltran blamed the military for the killings and criticized police for allegedly detaining the three activists.

"The murder of Marcellana and Gumanoy is a brazen and callous justice in this country," the leftist group New Patriotic Alliance (Bayan) said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, spokesman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemned on radio station dzMM the alleged human rights violation of the military against the civilians and openly supports the plight of the militant group.

"I’m appealing to the Southern Tagalog senators such as Senators Noli de Castro, Loren Legarda and Ralph Recto to launch an investigation on the reported human rights violation made by the military headed by Col. Jovito Palparan against civilians," Rosal said in the radio interview.

Rosal also accused Palparan of kidnapping American resort owner Antonio Lehman in Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro last December, which Palparan denied.

The abductors, who introduced themselves as members of the ALSA MASA, a vigilante group fighting against communist rebels, were tagged by the militants as alleged members of the 204th Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army headed by Palparan.

Palparan, however denied any involvement in the killing and abduction of the militant group. "If they have proof and evidences that my men were involved in this act, I am ready to help them (victims) in conducting investigation." — Jaime Laude, Arnell Ozaeta, Rene Alviar