CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mike Banos / 01 Aug) Military and militant group leaders continue trading barbs over the recent killing of a peasant leader in Salay town in Misamis Oriental province in the southern Philippines.
Ernesto Ladica, 43, leader of the Misamis Oriental Farmers' Association, was shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen July 26 in front of his house in the rural village of Lo-oc, just two days after President Gloria Arroyo condemned the series of all political killings in the country in her State of the Nation Address.
Ernesto Ladica, 43, leader of the Misamis Oriental Farmers' Association, was shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen July 26 in front of his house in the rural village of Lo-oc, just two days after President Gloria Arroyo condemned the series of all political killings in the country in her State of the Nation Address.
Militant leaders led by Karapatan lawyer Beverly Musni; Bayan Muna-Northern Mindanao Region's spokesperson Henry Trugillo and Deputy Secretary Kristine Lim said the death of Ladica is the first local political killing under Arroyo's administration.
They blamed Ladica's death on the military, saying the killing was part of the so-called Oplan Bantay Laya, a nationwide campaign supposedly to suppress dissent and intimidate progressive groups aimed at ending the 37-year-old insurgency of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its guerrilla arm, the New People's Army (NPA).
According to Maureen, Ladica's daughter, the man who shot her father was seen frequenting the Army’s 8th Infantry Battalion camp, a claim Karapatan said was bolstered by testimonies from relatives and witnesses. The military has positioned a number of detachments in the eastern towns of the province, where the NPA has been particularly active.
But Lt. Col. Andrelino G. Colina, commanding officer of the 8th Infantry Battalion, denied any involvement in Ladica's murder.
"We categorically deny any involvement in that incident. My men have nothing to do with the killing of Ladica in Salay," Colina said. "We have our hands full running after the armed NPA elements in the countryside who continue to make life miserable for the lowly folks living in the remote areas, forcing and coercing these people to give what little they have even if this will lead them to starvation."
Ladica's daughter said that a number of eyewitnesses confirmed that the killer and his two companions were allegedly members of the Armed Forces operating in the area. "Why will my men harm Ladica in the first place? Ladica has chosen to live a normal and decent life when he decided to break away from the NPA he once belonged to, and we respect that because we value human life more than anyone else," Colina said.
The militant groups have called on Philippine National Police (PNP) regional director Florante Baguio and PNP Misamis Oriental provincial director Lyndel Desquitado to investigate Ladica's killing.
Musni has also called on Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno and Cagayan de Oro Mayor Vicente Emano to appeal to the government "to stop these killings." Desquitado said he has ordered his men to give the investigation of the murder "top priority.""I have already given a directive to the Salay police office to conduct a deeper investigation on this. I believe the victim deserved justice," Desquitado said.
But Colina accused Musni and militant groups of being "selective" in their condemnation of "political killings."
"The accusation made by Karapatan, particularly that of Atty. Beverly Musni is baseless,” Colina said. "Karapatan is making a selective condemnation, being selective in the sense that they make public condemnation only when their members are the ones getting harmed."
Colina also asked why Karapatan and other militant groups are strangely silent about the killing of other innocent civilians not involving their members.
Among them, village chieftain Editha Bodbod, of Puting Balas in Talisayan town who "was treacherously and mercilessly killed in cold blood by NPA hit men on Jan. 1, 2006" ; Poli Llera of the village of Samay in Balingasag town, killed by five NPA members on Jan. 30,2006.
Vicente Salvo Olinan of Lanise in Claveria town, shot at his residence by NPA hit men on Feb. 12, 2006; Jonathan Lapinig of Bulahan, Claveria, who was shot by the NPA on Feb. 15, 2006; Jonathan Sumilla of Lanise, Claveria, who was also murdered by 15 NPA members on Mar. 23, 2006; Timoteo Cabactulan of Salay, slain by 3 NPA hit men on May 3, 2006.
"Not a single member of the Karapatan, specifically Atty. Beverly Musni, came out in the open and condemned these killings," Colina said. "No press conference was held saying things similar to the words they have uttered when Ladica was killed."
"Now, how should one interpret this? Even if Atty. Beverly Musni makes a thousand denials that Karapatan, Bayan Muna and other legal organizations are not CPP-NPA-NDF legal front organizations, their actions speak for it," Colina added.
"The CPP-NPA-NDF has the propensity to kill their own. Hundreds of innocent members have been murdered and buried in shallow graves just because they were unreasonably suspected as deep penetration agents of the military. The purging and cleansing still continues until now," Colina said.
"By all indications, Ladica became part of the statistics in the NPA's purging and cleansing process. Indeed, the U.S. and the EU were justly correct in branding the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization," he added.
Human rights groups said more than 100 militant and leaders of progressive political groups were abducted and killed the past years.
"Not a single member of the Karapatan, specifically Atty. Beverly Musni, came out in the open and condemned these killings," Colina said. "No press conference was held saying things similar to the words they have uttered when Ladica was killed."
"Now, how should one interpret this? Even if Atty. Beverly Musni makes a thousand denials that Karapatan, Bayan Muna and other legal organizations are not CPP-NPA-NDF legal front organizations, their actions speak for it," Colina added.
"The CPP-NPA-NDF has the propensity to kill their own. Hundreds of innocent members have been murdered and buried in shallow graves just because they were unreasonably suspected as deep penetration agents of the military. The purging and cleansing still continues until now," Colina said.
"By all indications, Ladica became part of the statistics in the NPA's purging and cleansing process. Indeed, the U.S. and the EU were justly correct in branding the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization," he added.
Human rights groups said more than 100 militant and leaders of progressive political groups were abducted and killed the past years.
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