The Philippine Army in southern Mindanao allegedly included a journalist and two media organizations in a 2007 watch list of persons and organizations it claims to be connected to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its military arm, the New People’s Army (NPA).
It has been noted that many of the persons in the watch list later became victims of extra-judicial killings. The military, however, has disowned the watch list, officially known as an "order of battle".
A PowerPoint presentation titled "JCICC ‘Agila’ 3rd QTR 2007 OB Validation Result” marked "SECRET" and allegedly prepared by the intelligence arm of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division includes journalist Carlos Conde in its "order of battle".
Conde, a journalist for 15 years, is a correspondent for the "International Herald Tribune" and the "New York Times", and also writes for local newspapers and online news sites.
An "order of battle" is a list of persons the Philippine military claims to be combatants or supporters of the CPP and NPA. A number of political activists who have appeared in such lists are among those who have been killed in the Philippines allegedly by military and paramilitary units.
Over a thousand political activists and 40 journalists have been killed in the Philippines since 2001. Extra-judicial killings have been the subject of concern by the United Nations and human rights groups.
In an interview with the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) on 19 May 2009, Conde said he was surprised at his inclusion in the "order of battle" validation report.
Conde received the information from the International Solidarity Mission (ISM) which last week concluded a fact-finding mission into the effects of the government’s counter-insurgency program in Southern Mindanao. The CPP is not illegal, but the government has been fighting the NPA since 1968.
Although the list was dated 2007, Conde believes those included in it are still under threat. One person in the list, Celso Pojas, a peasant leader in Davao City, was killed in 2008.
Conde believes his inclusion is connected to his being the former coordinator of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) in Davao City. Conde, also the secretary-general of NUJP from 2004-2006, led local campaigns against the killing of journalists in their province.
"Why my name is included in the 'order of battle' is a mystery. Unless, that is, the armed forces considers my and NUJP’s advocacy for press freedom, as well as pressuring the government to end the killings, as the work of enemies of the state (and) unless the Armed Forces of the Philippines views my job and my writing as threats to my country," he said in a 19 May statement.
The NUJP, which was previously tagged by the Armed Forces of the Philippines as an "enemy of the state", and the defunct Media Mindanao News Service are also in the list. The College Editors Guild of the Philippines, an alliance of college publications, was also mentioned. But Conde was the only journalist specifically named in the alleged "order of battle".
"Needless to say, this 'order of battle' has caused anxiety and fear in my family because, as we all know, an 'order of battle' in the Philippines is a veritable hit list," Conde said in his statement.
Bayan Muna (Nation First) Rep. Satur Ocampo also showed the document during the presentation of the results of the fact-finding mission of the International Solidarity Mission in Davao, a 20 May 2009 "Sun. Star" Cagayan de Oro report said. "Sun. Star" quoted Ocampo as saying that ISM got the document from a "conscientious soldier." Davao is a province approximately 946 km south of Manila.
But officials of the 10th Infantry Division denied authorship of the document. Col. Lysander Suerte, the chief of staff of the 10th Infantry Division, said in an interview with CMFR that whoever came out with the document only wants to misinform and agitate the public. Suerte also denied that the list presented by ISM was a list of persons targeted by the army.
"An 'order of battle' does not target individuals; it is mainly an assessment of the general threat to national security. What the ISM presented is not a list of targets, but that is how they want the public to see it so that unsolved/unexplained killings can be attributed to the military. They presented the list to create confusion and paranoia and eventually agitate the people to go against the military," the 10th Infantry Division said in a statement.
The "Philippine Daily Inquirer" reported on 20 May 2009 that Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu, the commanding officer of the 10th Infantry Division, has ordered an investigation into the origins of the watch list.
Showing posts with label Southeast Asian Press Alliance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Southeast Asian Press Alliance. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
New arrest warrant out for suspects in slay of Filipino journalist
MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine court issued a new arrest warrant for the suspects, one of them a police officer, in the 2008 killing of radio broadcaster Dennis Cuesta in the southern Philippines, according to the Southeast Asian Press Alliance.
It said General Santos City Regional Trial Court Branch 37 Judge Panambulan Mimbisa issued on 7 April 2009 the warrant against accused Police Inspector Redempto “Boy” Acharon, an alias “Gerry”, and several John Does in the killing of Cuesta. No bail was recommended.
The court also ordered the arresting officers to report within 10 days whether the suspects have been arrested. Over a dozen warrants of arrest have not been served on suspects in the killing of journalists in the Philippines.
The new arrest order came two months after the first arrest warrant against the accused was lifted. Branch 36 judge Isaac Alvero Moran recalled the first warrant of arrest on 12 February 2009, after the case (Criminal Case no. 20846) was transferred to another branch (37) of the same court. The transfer was triggered by “Very Urgent Motion to Recall Case Raffled to Branch 35 (sic)” filed by the accused.
To remove doubts on the regularity of the raffling, the RTC executive judge had ordered RTC Branch 36 to send the case back to the Office of the Clerk of Court so that it will “be included in the regular raffling of cases on…February 12” and “be considered as a newly filed case” on 11 February 2009.
Cuesta died in the hospital on 9 August 2008, five days after a gunman on a motorcycle shot him along a national highway near a shopping mall in General Santos City. A program director and anchor at the local station of Radio Mindanao Network (RMN), Cuesta was on his way home from an RMN-sponsored outreach program.
Cuesta’s widow, Gloria, told the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a SEAPA founding member, on 20 April 2009 that she was glad that the court had issued a warrant but said she is dismayed that Acharon is still at large and freely roaming General Santos City. She said some local journalists even saw Acharon visiting a local police station last week. “The police told them (the journalists) that they could not arrest Acharon because they had not received a copy of the arrest warrant.”
According to a Philippine National Police Task Force Usig (Prosecute) report, 27 identified suspects in 26 cases of work-related killings of journalists are at large (22 others remain unidentified). These 27 identified suspects include Acharon and the alleged masterminds in the celebrated Marlene Esperat case. Out of these identified suspects, 21 have standing warrants of arrest.
Esperat was killed on 24 March 2005 inside her home in Tacurong City in the southern province of Sultan Kudarat. Although her killers have been convicted, the alleged masterminds have yet to be arrested despite a standing warrant. Sultan Kudarat is approximately 968 kms from Manila.
As in the Esperat case, the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ) filed last 12 February 2009 a request to transfer the trial to another court in Makati City to avoid the political clout of the accused.
FFFJ is a coalition of media organizations formed to address the killing of journalists. It is composed of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines), the Philippine Press Institute, the Center for Community Journalism and Development, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and the CMFR, which serves as its secretariat.
CMFR (http://cmfr.com.ph/) is a SEAPA founding member based in Manila, the Philippines, working to promote ethical journalism and to protect press freedom.
It said General Santos City Regional Trial Court Branch 37 Judge Panambulan Mimbisa issued on 7 April 2009 the warrant against accused Police Inspector Redempto “Boy” Acharon, an alias “Gerry”, and several John Does in the killing of Cuesta. No bail was recommended.
The court also ordered the arresting officers to report within 10 days whether the suspects have been arrested. Over a dozen warrants of arrest have not been served on suspects in the killing of journalists in the Philippines.
The new arrest order came two months after the first arrest warrant against the accused was lifted. Branch 36 judge Isaac Alvero Moran recalled the first warrant of arrest on 12 February 2009, after the case (Criminal Case no. 20846) was transferred to another branch (37) of the same court. The transfer was triggered by “Very Urgent Motion to Recall Case Raffled to Branch 35 (sic)” filed by the accused.
To remove doubts on the regularity of the raffling, the RTC executive judge had ordered RTC Branch 36 to send the case back to the Office of the Clerk of Court so that it will “be included in the regular raffling of cases on…February 12” and “be considered as a newly filed case” on 11 February 2009.
Cuesta died in the hospital on 9 August 2008, five days after a gunman on a motorcycle shot him along a national highway near a shopping mall in General Santos City. A program director and anchor at the local station of Radio Mindanao Network (RMN), Cuesta was on his way home from an RMN-sponsored outreach program.
Cuesta’s widow, Gloria, told the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a SEAPA founding member, on 20 April 2009 that she was glad that the court had issued a warrant but said she is dismayed that Acharon is still at large and freely roaming General Santos City. She said some local journalists even saw Acharon visiting a local police station last week. “The police told them (the journalists) that they could not arrest Acharon because they had not received a copy of the arrest warrant.”
According to a Philippine National Police Task Force Usig (Prosecute) report, 27 identified suspects in 26 cases of work-related killings of journalists are at large (22 others remain unidentified). These 27 identified suspects include Acharon and the alleged masterminds in the celebrated Marlene Esperat case. Out of these identified suspects, 21 have standing warrants of arrest.
Esperat was killed on 24 March 2005 inside her home in Tacurong City in the southern province of Sultan Kudarat. Although her killers have been convicted, the alleged masterminds have yet to be arrested despite a standing warrant. Sultan Kudarat is approximately 968 kms from Manila.
As in the Esperat case, the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ) filed last 12 February 2009 a request to transfer the trial to another court in Makati City to avoid the political clout of the accused.
FFFJ is a coalition of media organizations formed to address the killing of journalists. It is composed of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines), the Philippine Press Institute, the Center for Community Journalism and Development, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and the CMFR, which serves as its secretariat.
CMFR (http://cmfr.com.ph/) is a SEAPA founding member based in Manila, the Philippines, working to promote ethical journalism and to protect press freedom.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Radio broadcaster claims getting threats from Philippine military unit
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 21, 2009) - A Filipino radio broadcaster allegedly received a message through his mobile phone on March 16 threatening him for his supposedly biased reporting.
The radio broadcaster believes the threat came from the military. The spokesman of the regional military unit concerned has denied the allegation. News director Elgin Damasco of dxDC-Radio Mindanao Network in Davao City said he received the message 15 minutes towards the end of his daily program " Tinuod nga Balita (The Real News)" which runs from 5 to 6 in the morning. Davao City is approximately 946 kilometers south of Manila.
Damasco told CMFR in a phone interview he “believes that the military was behind the death threat” since most of his exposés are about military abuses in Davao. A military spokesman, however, refuted the allegation.
Damasco linked the threat to his interview with Leoncio Pitao, a.k.a. Commander Parago, a local leader of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Damasco interviewed Parago in Paquibato District, three days after the latter’s daughter, 20-year old elementary teacher Rebelyn, was abducted, raped, and killed in Carmen, Davao del Norte.
Apart from this, Damasco had also been tackling other issues such as the alleged mauling of several residents of Paquibato District in Davao City by elements of the 3rd Special Forces under the 1003rd Infantry Battalion.
Major Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the Eastern Mindanao Command, denied that the threat came from the military. He even described Damasco as a fair reporter. “During our interviews, he was letting us talk and letting the other side talk also. He was like an arbiter,” he told the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).
The message from an unknown sender (with cell phone no. 0905-507-5929) read: “K a Damasco, mula ng kayong 3 ay naging spokesman ng NPA, matagumpay kayong nanalo sa propaganda laban sa AFP, dahil dyan may reward kayong 3 (Ka Damasco, since the three of you became spokespersons of the New People’s Army, the Armed Forces of the Philippines lost in the propaganda battle and because of that, a reward awaits the three of you).”
Damasco said the other two mentioned in the message may have been his co-workers, station manager Dodong Solis and senior anchor Alex Roldan. He said they have been noted for being critical of the military when reporting on human rights issues.
After he read the message, Damasco said he made a commentary over the air denying the anonymous text message sender’s accusation. Another message came after that, which said:
“ Matapang ka ha... (So you’re really tough...)” CMFR tried to call the mobile phone number where the message came from but the number was inaccessible.
After Damasco interviewed Parago, suspicious looking men have been seen in the vicinity of the house of Damasco, which is also near the residence of Solis. Neighbors said the men were asking them about the whereabouts of Damasco and Solis. (Souteast Asian Press Alliance - http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/newsdetail.php?No=1055)
The radio broadcaster believes the threat came from the military. The spokesman of the regional military unit concerned has denied the allegation. News director Elgin Damasco of dxDC-Radio Mindanao Network in Davao City said he received the message 15 minutes towards the end of his daily program " Tinuod nga Balita (The Real News)" which runs from 5 to 6 in the morning. Davao City is approximately 946 kilometers south of Manila.
Damasco told CMFR in a phone interview he “believes that the military was behind the death threat” since most of his exposés are about military abuses in Davao. A military spokesman, however, refuted the allegation.
Damasco linked the threat to his interview with Leoncio Pitao, a.k.a. Commander Parago, a local leader of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Damasco interviewed Parago in Paquibato District, three days after the latter’s daughter, 20-year old elementary teacher Rebelyn, was abducted, raped, and killed in Carmen, Davao del Norte.
Apart from this, Damasco had also been tackling other issues such as the alleged mauling of several residents of Paquibato District in Davao City by elements of the 3rd Special Forces under the 1003rd Infantry Battalion.
Major Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the Eastern Mindanao Command, denied that the threat came from the military. He even described Damasco as a fair reporter. “During our interviews, he was letting us talk and letting the other side talk also. He was like an arbiter,” he told the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).
The message from an unknown sender (with cell phone no. 0905-507-5929) read: “K a Damasco, mula ng kayong 3 ay naging spokesman ng NPA, matagumpay kayong nanalo sa propaganda laban sa AFP, dahil dyan may reward kayong 3 (Ka Damasco, since the three of you became spokespersons of the New People’s Army, the Armed Forces of the Philippines lost in the propaganda battle and because of that, a reward awaits the three of you).”
Damasco said the other two mentioned in the message may have been his co-workers, station manager Dodong Solis and senior anchor Alex Roldan. He said they have been noted for being critical of the military when reporting on human rights issues.
After he read the message, Damasco said he made a commentary over the air denying the anonymous text message sender’s accusation. Another message came after that, which said:
“ Matapang ka ha... (So you’re really tough...)” CMFR tried to call the mobile phone number where the message came from but the number was inaccessible.
After Damasco interviewed Parago, suspicious looking men have been seen in the vicinity of the house of Damasco, which is also near the residence of Solis. Neighbors said the men were asking them about the whereabouts of Damasco and Solis. (Souteast Asian Press Alliance - http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/newsdetail.php?No=1055)
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