MANILA - Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of Butuan has resigned from a government commission that recently tagged the military, communist rebels and politicians as among those responsible for extrajudicial killings, the Union of Catholic Asian News reported Tuesday.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who created the Melo Commission last Aug. 21, has stressed the need for continuing the commission's work to "strengthen" its report, which her office officially received on Jan. 30.
The same day, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters the "initial" report is "not comprehensive," because commission members relied heavily on testimony from military men and Task Force Usig (prosecute), set up by the Philippine National Police to probe killings of media people and activists.
He said militant groups did not participate.Because of this, Ermita explained, the president's office will not publicize the commission's "first report," to keep it from overshadowing subsequent ones.
He also announced that all members of the Melo Commission, except for Bishop Pueblos, have agreed to extend their work.On Jan. 31, Bishop Pueblos told UCA News he had resigned from the commission and would not reconsider his decision, because he will be very busy in his diocese.
Butuan diocese is based in Butuan City, 820 kilometers southeast of Manila. It serves Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur provinces. Some extrajudicial killings have been reported in its territory.
Interviewed on television on Jan. 27, Bishop Pueblos said: "We have identified that there are killings really perpetrated by the military." The commission found the military responsible for a "majority" of the killings, while leftists, "goons of some politicians" and "hooded men in motorbikes" committed other killings, the bishop added.
The commission is recommending that military officers be held culpable for murders done by their soldiers, and is "encouraging the president to make a statement to stop killings in whatever form," he continued.
On Feb. 2, retired Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo, who headed the five-member commission, told UCA News it could not publicize findings contained in the report submitted to the president.
"We want to tell everybody about our report, but not until it is released by the Office of the President," he said.
However, he confirmed that what has been reported in Philippine media is "essentially accurate."
The Jan. 30 edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer had reported the 74-year-old justice as saying that the commission found a "majority of the victims were leftist, activists, militants," and that suspected perpetrators are military personnel. "But we don't want to tag the whole military establishment, only elements of the military who were allowed to do their thing without supervision from higher officers," a quotation read.
Melo reportedly specified that the commission has recommended that retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. be held accountable for killings done by soldiers serving with the Philippine Army's 7th Infantry Division in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, 90 kilometers north of Manila.
Palparan, who headed the army division from September 2005 until he retired in September 2006, has denied responsibility for the killings.During the television interview, Bishop Pueblos described the commission's interviews with Palparan as "irritating."
The bishop cited "irresponsible comments" by the general, such as his dismissal of data as "fabrication" by the NGPO Karapatan (rights), which he termed "left-leaning."
Since that televised interview, Bishop Pueblos has said he could not talk about the matter further "unless the nuncio gives the go signal."
The apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, the Holy See's representative to the country and the local Church, is Archbishop Fernando Filoni.
In an address on Jan. 30 for the Philippine National Police anniversary, Arroyo said there is much to think about and do with regard to the Melo Commission's report. Her government will work with the Church, activists, journalists, government officials, the international community and Melo to strengthen the committee's findings and "put teeth in the recommendations," she added.
The president said the government would invite international cooperation, protect witnesses, field special prosecutors and create special courts to try cases of extrajudicial killings.
The other Melo Commission members are National Bureau of Investigation Director Nestor Mantaring, Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno and University of the Philippines Regent Nelia Torres Gonzales.
Karapatan lists 830 people as victims of extrajudicial killings since Arroyo became president in 2001. They identify 365 of those killed as activists. Three of the slain are from Butuan diocese, including a worker of the Good Shepherd Sisters' Tribal Filipino Ministry.
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