Arroyo: Probe rights activists’ killings

President Arroyo ordered yesterday an investigation into the killings of two human rights activists blamed on the military.

The bodies of Elaine Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy were found dumped last Tuesday in a bamboo grove a few meters from a highway in Bansud town in the island-province of Oriental Mindoro.

The two were among five activists seized in Naujan town last Monday by masked men claiming to be anti-communist vigilantes while they were on a fact-finding mission looking into allegations of military abuses in Oriental Mindoro, their colleagues said.

The three others remain missing. They are Francisco Saez and Melvin Jocson, provincial coordinators of the peasant-workers’ group Anakpawis in Oriental Mindoro; and Virgilo Catoy, a member of the award-winning audio-visual group ST-Exposure.

Marcellana was secretary-general of the Alyansa sa Pagsulong ng Karapatang Pantao in Southern Tagalog (Karapatan-ST), while Gumanoy was chairman of the militant farmer’s group Kasapian ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK). Both groups are based in Southern Luzon.

Marcellana was shot in the head, while Gumanoy bore gunshot wounds in the head and chest.

In a statement, the party-list group Bayan Muna said Marcellana was supposed to testify at the Commission on Appointments (CA) against the promotion of Col. Jovito Palparan, commander of the Army’s 204th Infantry Brigade, whom militant groups have called the "Butcher of Mindoro."

Bayan Muna has filed a formal opposition to Palparan’s promotion with the CA, according to its secretary-general, Robert de Castro. "Palparan was aware of her (Marcellana’s) role in exposing his exploits in Oriental Mindoro," he said.

Palparan, however, denied that his unit was involved in the abduction-killings, and in human rights violations in Oriental Mindoro.

"They have always made these allegations but they have yet to show proof," he said.

"I am not aware that they are blocking my promotion. I have not heard of that," he added.

Mrs. Arroyo said she has ordered the Presidential Committee on Human Rights as well as the independent Commission on Human Rights to investigate the killings.

"We are concerned about charges of vigilantism being aired in relation to killings of human rights activists," Mrs. Arroyo said in a speech in yesterday’s graduation of Metro Manila barangay tanods who had undergone anti-crime training, at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

"When there are such charges, the authorities must step in and get to the root of the matter soonest," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo directed Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong to form a task force to conduct the investigation. Datumanong designated Undersecretary Jose Calida to head the panel.

Colleagues of the five activists have accused the military of being behind the murders.

They said the killings were meant to thwart investigation into allegations that troops had abused villagers and farmers in Mindoro.

The New People’s Army (NPA) held Palparan and his unit responsible for the killings of Marcellana and Gumanoy.

"The revolutionary movement shall make sure that they will pay for their crimes," said NPA spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal. — With AFP and Benjie Villa