New York Times Writer on Philippine Military's Order of Battle

A deeply disturbing development.

PRESS STATEMENT

May 19, 2009

I am Carlos H. Conde, a journalist based in Manila.

I found out yesterday that my name is included in the Armed Forces of the Philippines’s “order of battle,” specifically in a document titled “JCICC `AGILA’ 3rd QTR 2007 OB VALIDATION RESULT” purportedly prepared by the intelligence staff of the armed forces’ 10th Infantry Division in Southern Mindanao.

In this “order of battle,” more than a hundred individuals – mostly leaders and members of progressive and leftist groups like Bayan, Bayan Muna, among others – are listed and classified as “organized,” “dominated,” or “targeted.” As far as I can tell, I am the only journalist on the list, which classifies me as “targeted,” whatever that means.

It would seem that the army considers me an enemy of the state, as the document, which shows the alleged links of these individuals with the communist movement, seems to be implying.

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. Indeed, at least one of the individuals in the document – Celso Pojas, a peasant leader in Davao City — has been assassinated and several others have either been attacked or subjected to harassment and intimidation by agents of the armed forces.

Just to be clear, I am a journalist and [have] been so in the past 15 years. Presently, I work as a freelance correspondent for US-based publications, namely The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune and GlobalPost.com. I also contribute stories and reports every now and then to other foreign and local publications.

I used to be the coordinator of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines in Davao City and Southern Mindanao, where I resided until three years ago. I was the NUJP’s secretary-general from 2004 to 2006. Part of my job at the time was to lead the campaign in the Philippines to stop the killings of journalists. The Philippines, as we all know, is notorious for being the world’s most murderous place for journalists.

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. Unless the armed forces views my job and my writing as threats to this nation.

Carlos H. Conde
Manila, Philippines

EDITORIAL: When Press Freedom Is Under Threat

We have been noticing suspicious persons near our office in Zamboanga City. Suspicious in a way, that these men - some on motorcycles, others in vans - are watching our movement. We sense danger. Others who noticed these men say they speak in Tausug, a dialect widely used in the province of Sulu. Our staffs are being followed by these men and we have reasons to believe that our safety is under threat.

Last December 28, somebody fired a shot at our editorial office. The bullet pierced the Mindanao Examiner signboard, left a hole on our shutter door and the thick glass stopped the slug. Daytime security guards say the shot was probably fired after midnight or else the one on duty should have at least seen the attacker. The security agency reported the matter to the building owner and to the police the next day, December 29.

Welcoming the Year of the Ox in 2009 is really not something to be happy about, especially when persons with ill motives are tailing us. The year 2008 was also not good for us. Our editor Al Jacinto was tagged persona non grata by the City Council of Zamboanga over news articles about the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity that politicians did not like.

In Zamboanga, journalists have become an easy target for hired killers. With five journalists murdered in Zamboanga over the years, the threat to press freedom continues.

We don't know why our staffs are being targeted, but we believe that all these have something to do with the series of news stories we have been writing about politicians in Sulu. We have been receiving text messages from unknown people criticizing good politicians that we write about.

Who would dare to do all these things and dispatched armed men to intimidate us or perhaps hunt us down? We counted at least a dozen different Tausug-speaking men, in jackets, sunglasses, helmets, caps and guns tucked on their waist - in different motorbikes, in vans and they seemed so desperate to find us.

It's too bad that they cannot accept what we write or report about and that's the truth – the hatred in their hearts has already poisoned their mind.

We have prepared a short list of names of people, who, we believed should be held accountable in case anything happen to us. We have spoken to several people in authorities and told them the grim scenario. This is part of being in the media and the hazards of the job are just one thing journalists should always be prepared about.

Press freedom is all about democracy. It is all about the freedom to write the truth, to tell the truth and to speak the truth. We just hope that all these shall come to pass and the light of truth continues to shine. (The Mindanao Examiner)

Davao City Council Members Under Threat

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 11, 2008) – Three members of the Davao City Council are allegedly the target of assassinations in Mindanao, the official Philippine News Agency reported Saturday.

It said Davao City Deputy Mayor Sara Duterte will meet with security officials in a bid to confirm assassination plots against the trio.

Duterte said City Councilor Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling reportedly is in the hit-list of the New People’s Army (NPA) and an assassin had been sent down from the mountains of Paquibato district to carry out the hit job.

City Councilors Peter Lavina and Angela Trinidad, known for their leftist bent, are also the subject of the same operations apparently by soldiers.

Cabling said he does not know why he could be in the hit list, saying he has no debt to the people. Cabling is the chair of the committee on housing, rural and urban development, and has lately been praised for his efforts to provide socialized housing to the homeless urban poor.

On the other hand, Lavina has deplored reports saying he has a house in far-flung Barangay Tamayong in Calinan district that he loaned out to communist rebels.

Trinidad has complained she is being tailed by suspicious persons and that allegedly could only be from the military.

Trinidad, daughter of the late militant firebrand Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) chairperson Erasto Librado is a ranking official of the leftist Bayan Muna, branded by the military as a legal front organization of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

NUJP denounces death threats against 4 Capiz journalists: GMANews.TV

MANILA, Philippines (GMANews.TV / September 01, 2008) — Four journalists based in the central province of Capiz received a cruel death threat last weekend, with the "threat" coming in the form of text messages sent to their friends and relatives.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said Tuesday the text message circulated Sunday night, claiming three of the journalists died and the fourth was in critical condition.

"If it was not a joke, was it meant to silence not only the four of us but also the whole media community in Capiz on issues affecting public interest? Was it meant to divert the media on the more pressing issues and eventually silence them?" the four asked in a statement posted Tuesday evening on the NUJP website (www.nujp.org).

"We call on our colleagues in media not to be intimated by this latest attack on press freedom. With God's help, we shall triumph," they added.

The NUJP said the text messages, which claimed the four had figured in a vehicular accident, were sent to even the Capiz governor.

Named as "dead" in the text messages were John Heredia, Gerry Pagharion and Edward Basilonia. The three were supposedly declared dead on arrival at the Capiz Emmanuel Hospital.
The fourth journalist, Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent Felipe Celino, was supposedly in critical condition.

Heredia chairs the Capiz chapter of the NUJP, while Pagharion is the editor of Capiz Times. Basilonia is publisher of the Capiz Chronicle and head of the Provincial Capitol Media Bureau.
At the time the text message was sent, all four were in their homes sleeping.

On Monday, the four issued a statement on Monday denouncing the text message as "uncalled for and malicious," especially in the wake of the killing of Capiz broadcaster Martin Roxas.
The four had been active in reporting the killing of Roxas, who was shot dead by one of two motorcycle-riding men along Bayot Drive in Roxas City, last Aug. 7.

Cyril Simpas, station manager of dyOW Bombo in Roxas City, said he was among those who received the text message from an unknown sender using the number 09085664485.

After he received the text at 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Simpas said he tried calling the number but it could not be reached.

The unidentified sender also sent similar messages to provincial administrator Zoe Herrera, Roxas City administrator Ronald Amigo, IBC-dyJJ station manager Rexam Laguda and RMN-dyVR reporter Ebe Ballos.

Ballos forwarded the message to station manager Eliezer Abarra of RMN-dyVR.

COMELEC's Rene Sarmiento, Magbibitiw Na!

LANAO DEL SUR (Mindanao Examiner / 28 May) – Pumutok kanina ang balitang magbibitiw na umano si Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento bilang pinuno ng Task Force Maguindanao, na kung saan ay talamak diumano ang dayaan sa nakaraang halalan.

Sa Maguindanao nagwagi ng landslide ang TEAM Unity sa 12-0 swift na umano’y balot sa karahasan at pananakot.

Hindi pa malinaw ang dahilan ng pagreresign ni Sarmiento, ngunit ayon sa ibang mga impormasyon ay kalusugan ang idinadahilan nito. Biglaan ang naging desisyon ni Sarmiento at ibat-ibang haka-haka ang kumakalat sa Mindanao.

Magbibitiw diumano ito dahil sa hindi masikmura ang matinding dayaan sa Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at posibleng pinagreresign rin dahil hindi umano nagawan ng paraan na maitago ang mga kalokohan sa Maguindanao, Lanao, Basilan at Sulu na kung saan ay namayagpag ang TEAM Unity kontra sa Genuine Opposition senatorial candidates.

Hindi naman makumpirma ang mga balitang ito, ngunit lumutang na ang pangalan ni Elections Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer na posibleng pumalit kay Sarmiento.

Pumutok rin ang balita kasabay ng paglabas ngayon araw sa ABS-CBN ng video footage na nakunan ng grupo ni reporter Ricky Carandang na kung saan ay nahuling bitbit ng mga COMELEC officials ang ilang bundles ng blankong election returns mula Marawi City patungo sa isang hotel sa Iligan City.

Nauna umanong itinanggi ito ni Sarmiento, ngunit dakong huli ay inamin rin matapos na makita ang video footage. Sinabi nitong “safekeeping” lamang ang dahil kung bakit inilipat ang mga ERs.

Nagkaroon pa ng sagutan ang grupo ni Carandang sa isang sigang kasamahan ni Sarmiento ng sila’y komprontahin ng media ukol sa ERs.Halos mabulol naman ang lalaki sa kapapaliwanag at pinag-diskitahan pa ang camera man ni Carandang.

Inulat rin kanina ng ABS-CBN na matapos na mailabas ang nasabing video footage ay pinaghahanap na umano ng mga armadong grupo sina Carandang.

Hindi naman agad makunan ng pahayag si Sarmiento sa Lanao at lumipad na umano ito patungong Maynila kahapon sa kalagitnaan ng eskandalo at dayaan na ibinibintang ng oposisyon sa Malakanyang upang papanaluhin ang ilang mga TEAM Unity bets, partikular ang ika-11 at ika-12 puwesto sa Magic 12.

Itinanggi ng Malakanyang at TEAM Unity ang akusasyon.

Sina failed coup leader Antonio Trillanes at Aquilino “Coco” Pimentel Jr na parehong oposisyon ang nasa dalawang puwesto at kulelat naman sina Jose Miguel Zubiri, Mike Defensor at Ralph Recto ng TEAM Unity. (May ulat sina Mark Navales, Merlyn Manos, Juan Magtanggol at Becky de Asis)