Bicol Farmers Rally to Fight Against Terror of Oplan Bayanihan

Thousands marched along the streets of Guinobatan, Albay while Sorsoganons came together in solidarity with the people of Barcelona; and a similar protests action was staged at the town center of  Bula, Camarines Sur today.

These towns represent no less than 20 villages across the region that are currently suffering under the repression of Oplan Bayanihan’s Peace and Development Teams. Today’s protests is spearheaded by Kilusan ng Mamamayan Laban sa Militarisasyon sa Kabikulan (KMLMB), Karapatan Bicol,and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.  The regionwide mobilization is supported by Bicolanos from various sectors, which Concepcion says “highlights the value of collective strength to match up to the military’s armed attack on civilians.”

The human rights organization exposes that under Oplan Bayanihan in Bicol, no less than 37 civilians have been killed by the military, and an immense loss in agricultural produce has been inflicted by the so-called Peace and Development Teams. “Peasants are being suspected of being New People’s Army supporters and are being killed. Farms are neglected because of fear, hence the worsening of livelihoods, because military operations prove deadly to villagers.


The struggle for life and livelihood intensifies today as thousands of Bicolano farmers mass up to heighten their fight against the deaths and damages that Oplan Bayanihan has inflicted upon the remote villages in the region. As the nation remembers EDSA I uprising, Bicolanos on the other hand troop to government offices and military camps to demand the pull-out  of soldiers from the countrysides, and call for an end to the government’s deadly counter-insurgency campaign.

“February 25 supposedly marks the people’s triumph against Martial Law. But clearly, democracy remains chained as most of Bicol’s rural villages continue to be under the military’s control,” John Concepcion, Karapatan-Bikol Spokesperson said.

“We hold the Philippine Army’s 9th Infantry Division accountable for these deaths and damages to people’s livelihoods,” asserts Concepcion, adding that apart from these, the military likewise commits a lot more
forms of human rights violations. “PDTs are trained in every way to violate rights,” clarifies Concepcion. “They occupy public structures thus endangering civilians, they commit torture, illegal detention and
interrogation, they rape and abuse women, and steal crops and animals, among other. Most of all, they kill civilians,” enumerates Concepcion.

Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (KMP)-Bikol Spokesperson, Felix Paz further reiterates the farmers  demands, “These soldiers must be pulled out immediately to avert any further damage to the people!”
 “The government will surely step up its barrage of human rights violations. If we do not carry on with our fight against  Oplan Bayanihan's intensified military operations, government soldiers will continue to
murder our loved ones, and continue to deny us of our living.”#

Peace of the Dead

Peace of the Dead

(Second of Two Parts)

If it is peace the 9^th Infantry Division aims to achieve in Oplan Bayanihan, then it has certainly succeeded in doing so, if the peace it wants is the deadening of villages and the quelling of people’s aspirations.

For indeed, in over two years of the AFP’s campaign, it has not only attacked the people through brute force. It has also pursued to deflect the minds of villagers away from the roots of poverty and conflict, and has strived to distort the people’s thinking towards Oplan Bayanihan’s incredible logic.

Oplan Bayanihan absurdly believes that people are poor only because they believe that they are poor.  Their hardship is only caused by “perceptions of relative deprivation”, and is therefore no reason to protest or take up arms. Oplan Bayanihan clearly insults the people’s judgement in dispelling concrete socio-economic and socio-political concerns such as landlessness, unemployment, and injustice as motivations for dissent and armed resistance. Nonetheless, counter-insurgency fanatics aim to simply change such “perceptions of relative deprivation” through “winning the hearts and minds” of a target community.

Psywar: Altering “Perceptions”

It is in this twisted reasoning that Peace and Development Teams (PDTs) carry out their other tasks. Apart from being initiators of brutality, another focal mission of PDTs is the bombardment of diversionary schemes and even outright lies in an attempt to clear the people’s minds of the root causes of their hardships and just means of attaining progress. 

In PDT-infested villages, it is commonplace for soldiers to initiate merry-making activities such as basketball tournaments, village dances and drinking sessions as though these revelries could mask the despondency of hunger that befall peasant homes. Soldiers go around with their paintbrushes beautifying waiting sheds and barangay halls, participating in token tree-planting activities, as if colors could enhance the centuries-old crudeness of production relations in the farms. Soldiers would invite residents in a “boodle-fight” meal, and transfer meager amounts of cellphone loads to students, as though these one-time gestures could provide education for the youth. Truly, the deception of Oplan Bayanihan is as plain as a rabid dog putting on a clown’s face. 

Starker forms of psywar are likewise employed. During interrogations, victims are coerced into betraying their neighbors, with PDT operators sowing intrigues in order to ruin the harmonious relationships among villagers. Those who are subjected to questioning are also photographed while being forced to hold rifles, and are made to sign blank sheets of papers. These papers would later turn out to be either waivers of human rights violations, or signed surrender documents. It is noteworthy to add that military officials make a living out of misrepresenting civilians as New People’s Army (NPA) rebel returnees. Government funds supposedly allocated for such are easily pocketed by officers, with scores of peasants from each PDT-infested village being paraded as “former NPA rebels”.

Lastly, Oplan Bayanihan implements murder as the darkest of methods in instilling in the minds of the people to cast off any thought of dissent. As in the deaths of Eli Oguis, Romero Octavo, and Dalmacio dela Punta, their killers intend to ram the grim message head-on. Also, a familiar threat that has apparently become a standard operational procedure for PDT operations resonates in village round ups across the region: “Kapag inabutan namin ang mga NPA sa bahay ninyo, idadamay namin kayo!” (If we chance upon the NPA in your homes, you will not be spared!)
 

And alas, such wickedness has resulted in the massacre of the Mancera family in Labo town in February of 2012, when indeed, a platoon of the 49^th IB under First Lieutenant Alfie Lee killed two schoolboys and their father, and left their sister severely wounded. Such was also the fate of the Lotino family in Daraga town in Albay. Accused of being NPA supporters, village councilman Wenifredo Lotino was killed together with his wife and a nephew, and the Lotinos’ daughter suffering serious gunshot wounds. In Libmanan town in Camarines Sur, likewise suspected of supporting the NPA, three members of the Bico family, along with their employee, were killed by masked soldiers. Two other witnesses were also killed. 

Completing the policy of murder would be the posse of AFP propagandists scurrying towards media organizations to peddle their lies. Oplan Bayanihan being a barrage of brutality and grand psywar, military spokespersons would instinctively disown the crimes and point to the NPA. Common too are assertions that the civilian victims are NPA rebels, or that they were caught in crossfires. Still frequently driveled is to pass off the murders as common crimes, obscuring the methodization of these state murders.

But deceit is an embarrassment shoved in the AFP’s face. Testimonies and evidences belie the falsehoods that accompany each killing, attesting even more to the inclusion of murders in Oplan Bayanihan’s menu. In the extra-judicial killing of Bayan Muna member Rodel Estrellado on February 25, 2011, military reports of his death were already brandished in the media three hours earlier than his abduction which was witnessed by the public.  In Cabaloaon councilman Ely Oguis’ case,  an entanglement of lies caught military spokespersons confused as to which claim to sustain. One military unit claimed that Oguis was killed in an encounter. Another said that he was killed by the NPA for not paying taxes. Still another declared that he was an NPA tax collector killed by his comrades for not remitting his collections. Ely Oguis was in fact last seen in the company of soldiers before his death, and neighbors disprove the military’s claim of a supposed encounter between government forces and NPA rebels. In Bulan town in Sorsogon province, no less than Cesar Habla’s family asserts that the poor farmer was killed in their presence while tending to their copra production, contrary to the 8^th Scout Ranger Company’s media announcement that Habla died in an encounter with rebels.

What peace indeed. What tranquility these spell for a state that tolerates no tinge of dissent. Surely, landlords in government need no longer worry about militant peasant organizations legitimately demanding lands and agricultural advancement. Capitalist lawmakers need no longer worry about militant organizations protesting unemployment and loss of livelihoods. The state has at its disposal the ferocity and duplicity of Oplan Bayanihan, thanks to the 9^th Infantry Division, to subdue a discontented people.

A peace based on justice

But decades of struggle against repressive regimes in succession have sharpened the critical minds of the people and have toughened their resolve. Experience has equipped the masses to determine the anti-people natures of one counter-insurgency campaign after another. And this is Oplan Bayanihan’s fundamental weakness – it fails to win the support of the people because it does not solve age-old problems of landlessness, grinding poverty, and injustice.

More importantly, Oplan Bayanihan is faced with a resolute fight. Early on into the PDTs’ onslaught, the people of Albay staged a series of wide protests condemning Oplan Bayanihan and demanding the pull-out of the PDTs. A significant aspect of these protests, aside from being sustained, is the gathering of collective support from various parts of the region. The people’s will to carry on with their anti-militarization campaign warms up even more as they are joined by fellow peasants across the region. These supporters may be communities also suffering from the ills of Oplan Bayanihan, or those in solidarity with the struggles of their class.

The force of a people drawn together paid off when the series of protests resulted in the Albay Provincial Board issuing a resolution requiring the PDTs to vacate public establishments. Also, the Regional Office of the Commission on Human Rights was urged to conduct an investigation which led to calling for an end to the grave human rights violations being committed by the 2^nd IB. 

Camarines Norte’s 12 villages also enjoyed the support from different sectors across Bicol when a regional Fact Finding Mission was conducted in May 2012 to further expose the atrocities committed by the 31^st IB. Also in October of 2012, a regional mobilization marched along the streets of the province’ capital to demand from the government the punishment and pull-out of the 31^st IB from the villages.

Much is still to be done, as even if the 2^nd IB has been compelled to build their own barracks, the soldiers continue to return to the public facilities in blatant disregard of lawful decisions. Meanwhile, the 31^st IB continues to occupy 13 barrios in Labo. Much is still to be done, as the rest of Bicol’s countrysides continue to swell with PDTs.

Oplan Bayanihan is due to end in 2016. But this early, it’s demise has already been declared by the people. But such optimism is assured not only by Oplan Bayanihan’s inherent flaws, but most of all, by the people’s resolve to further strengthen their ranks and sustain the fight against this deadly counter-insurgency campaign alongside continuing struggles for land, livelihood, and justice. ###

Peace of the Dead

(First of Two Parts)

A graveyard’s peace drapes the countrysides of Bicol. The muteness of peasant huts, the hush of wary gestures in the farms, the tautness of villagers’ faces – all these bespeak the dread that has crept across the barrios of the region. This silence is the dark peace of Oplan Bayanihan.

Now entering its third year, the government’s “internal peace and security plan” (a moderation for “counter-insurgency”), patterned after the US Counterinsurgency Guide of 2009, has for its ultimate objective the reduction of the “capabilities of internal armed threats…to a level that they can no longer threaten the stability of the state and civil authorities can ensure the safety and well-being of the Filipino people.” In the Bicol region, with the government having only one formidable armed opponent, Oplan Bayanihan means to “render the NPA irrelevant.” The Philippine Army’s 9th Infantry Division initiates the campaign in the region.

For the Bicolano masses however, Oplan Bayanihan only means thus: Terror and Deceit,  a two-pronged spear of brutality and psywar being thrust at the people leading to further impoverishment in a land already belonging to the country’s four poorest regions.


Terror and Deceit: A Predicament in Pairs
In the province of Albay, Oplan Bayanihan’s misleading “Peace and Development” operations have for more than two years been ravaging the interiors of Guinobatan town, and has turned a cluster of villages in the second district into a seemingly enormous military complex with large deployment of Philippine Army troops and CAFGU paramilitaries. These state forces, sustained by public money, essentially come to be private security forces for companies undertaking the construction of an international airport, and also of major eco-tourism and residential projects in the area.

In Camarines Norte, the 49th Infantry Battalion’s “Peace and Development Teams” (PDTs) disrupt the once tranquil lives of the people of Labo town’s 13 barrios – Domagmang, Malaya, Malibago, Malatap, Anameam, Macogon, Bagong Silang II, Pag-asa, Maligaya, Calabasa, Excivan, Daguit, and Maot.

Likewise, 12 villages in the town of Bato in Camarines Sur likewise suffer the afflictions of military presence. The villages of Payak, Pagatpatan, Sooc, Cotmon, Cristo Rey, Coguit, Mangga, Lubong, Salvacion, Cawacagan, Del Rosario, and Caricot have also been rounded up by the Philippine Army’s 42nd IB for Oplan Bayanihan’s storm of repression.

Villages in the towns of San Miguel, San Andres, and Virac in Catanduanes province share the same fate, as well as those in the boundaries of Bulusan and Barcelona towns in the province of Sorsogon, who have soldiers from the 31st IB occupying their barangays since September of 2012.

Needless to say, the AFP’s dismal human rights record makes its prolonged presence troubling on the part of villagers. A mere day of government soldiers raking through the countryside already spells fear and anxiety on the farmers to go to their lands, they being accosted with brusque, physical harm, and assaults to their livelihoods such as the stealing of crops and fowls from unguarded farms - thus equating military operations to loss of livelihoods.

But to simply paint a picture of menacing military patrols in the hinterlands of rural villages is to downplay the intent of Oplan Bayanihan’s focused terror. Despite the 9th ID’s platitudes on “peace and development” and “respect for human rights”, the opposite is what has been taking place. Oplan Bayanihan’s so-called “people-centered approach” is designed to impress upon the peasants the harsh consequences of advocating or supporting just struggles for land, livelihood, and other democratic rights and interests.  PDTs – on the average a squad of soldiers trained in combat, intelligence, and psywar – direct their brunt primarily on peasants and members of progressive organizations in the barrios whom they suspect to be supporters of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Various forms of human rights violations assail the victims of PDTs. From intimidation to physical harm, from illegal detention to unlawful interrogation, from torture to murder – soldiers of the 9th ID have not run out of methods in repressing Bicolano masses. In the villages of Guinobatan alone, no less than 80 individuals fell prey to the 2nd IB's PDTs just on its first month in July to August of 2011.

Emelio Odeña, a village watchman of Barangay Balite, had a knife shoved at him by a Sgt. Mariano. Novo Otico of Barangay Pood was hit in the head and legs while under interrogation. Fellow villager Oscar Pardines was hit with a rifle’s butt and was knocked in the stomach by his interrogators led by a Corporal Carpio. Village officials of Bololo and Cabaloaon were harassed into withdrawing their opposition to the PDTs’ presence, and were forced to provide materials and construct dwellings for soldiers. Rodrigo Bosquellos, also of Barangay Balite, was interrogated and illegally detained for seven hours, during which he was also denied any legal counsel and even food. Eli Oguis, a village councilman of Cabaloaon, whom the 2nd IB put under severe interrogation in August 2011, was later found headless in the muds. The list of savagery displayed by the 2nd IB in Albay goes on but is also matched elsewhere in the region where Oplan Bayanihan’s PDTs operate.

And as if all these were not terroristic enough, the Philippine Army’s 9th ID has even placed itself in the people’s midst – stockpiling weapons and occupying public structures as their barracks, and subjugating the people in their own locales of comfort and fellowships. AFP Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, Oplan Bayanihan’s chief architect, must have perfected in his military experience the thrashing of a people’s dignity that he and his men are now committing human rights violations – the intimidations and tortures, the unlawful detentions and cruelties – the crushing of a people’s spirits – inside barangay halls, daycare centers, chapels, and other public establishments.

All of these makes one thing very clear: that the government’s armed forces have the least respect for International Humanitarian Law which puts a premium on the protection and security of civilians in times of armed conflict; that certainly, it is not the poor and marginalized people in the region or elsewhere that they have come for to serve and protect.

With the 9th Infantry Division adept in all the functions of a repressive tool, Bicol’s countrysides would most likely illustrate the demise of democratic aspirations, with 9th ID troops posturing as butchers, but with once stifled Bicolano masses steadily breaking away from their fetters. #

Two Civilians Murdered by Lt Col Andrew Costelo’s 2nd IB

LEGAZPI CITY_

Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Costelo’s minions are on a killing rampage. Less than two weeks into his command, and in a span of just two days, Costelo’s 2^nd Infantry Battalion has already murdered two civilians. After mauling and shooting to death a farmer in Pio Duran town on February 11, soldiers of the 2^nd IB in Brgy Tobgon, Oas matched the crime with another civilian murder in the person of Dalmacio dela Punta.

News reports as well as communications from people’s organizations in the area confirmed that a firefight ensued between government troopers and alleged NPA rebels on February 12, with the 2^nd IB suffering casualties.  The victim’s family and other witnesses said that after the firefight, the soldiers arrested dela Punta at a nearby sityo, mauled and dragged him from his house, and peppered him with bullets on the way to the barrio center. He was then declared a New People’s Army rebel killed in the encounter.

The new 2^nd IB commander is bloating with lies in his attempt to cover up his soldiers’ crimes - for  the plain truth that dela Punta is a civilian. He was killed in disgust of 2^nd IB’s losses in the said encounter.  

It is indignant that such is Costelo’s civil-military operations after all – to systematically kill civilians in order to keep the populace terrorized and subdued, and fabricate lies to hide the atrocity.  And such is the evil of Oplan Bayanihan. The terror and impunity of the failed Oplan Bantay Laya escalates in this next counter-insurgency campaign, along with crooked psywar designs to attempt to blind the people of the AFP’s murderous nature.

Karapatan vows to exact justice for the loathsome murder of Dalmacio dela Punta. A Truth Mission is set to be organized to further expose the brutality carried out by Costelo's men. The 2nd IB's commander can expect no less than a murder case slapped against him and his soldiers.

Powerless as they are, poor peasants can only seek strength from fellow oppressed and exploited people. We call on the just and well-meaning people of Albay to aid in condemning Lt. Col. Andrew Costelo’s unsparing attack against civilians, and the impunity that envelops his counter-insurgency campaign.#

2nd IB-Philippine Army Frantically Shooting Civilians in Albay

LEGAZPI CITY_Romero Octavo is a former NPA rebel who has decided to lay down his arms and pursue civilian life. From the time Romero settled as a civilian resident of Brgy Rawis in neighboring Jovellar town, he has since survived the daily struggles ordinary peasants confront.  As was his nature, he would assist fellow villagers in their daily endeavors, his efforts be in form of words or direct participation in farm labor. Apart from tending to his land, he joined gatherings that fight for the people’s rights, though this time on the legal front.

But Lt. Col. Andrew Costelo and his 2nd IB death squad denied Romero the chance of returning to civilian life. Costelo’s rabid adherence to AFP Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista's Oplan Bayanihan, being 901st Brigade’s former civil-military operations (CMO) chief, exposes the AFP’s vicious counter-insurgency campaign as being ultimately deadly to civilians. On February 11, Romero Octavo was never able to enjoy the small joys of a village dance, as he was mauled and shot to death by ten fully armed masked men believed to be Costelo’s soldiers. After mercillesly killing Romero Octavo, the murderers got on their motorcyles, in full death-squad fashion, and retreated to the direction of an army camp at nearby Brgy Halabang Puro.

Costelo’s lies  as a CMO implementer secretes from his pores  while he gloats on Oplan Bayanihan’s glorification as supposed peace and development for the people. With Octavo’s killing, Costelo seems to be saying that former NPA rebels have might as well remained hiding in the mountains, because apparently civilians are the primary targets of Oplan Bayanihan. Costelo’s perceptible reasoning in having Octavo killed is that civilians who are vocal in legally fighting for their rights might as well take up arms if only to defend themselves, because apparently Oplan Bayanihan virulently snaps on any sign of dissidence. This seems to be the logic Costelo wants to convey to the people of Albay.

With Lt. Col. Andrew Costelo and his 2nd IB frantically shooting civilians as if these were their armed opponents, peace based on justice would obviously be far-fetched in this province.

People’s leader survives murder attempt by suspected soldiers

Terror strikes most callously in its victims’ joyous moments.

A wedding anniversary is not at all one occasion for death squads to be considerate. On the night of December 5 in San Pablo, Del Gallego, Camarines Sur, as Barangay Captain Angel Mendoza and his wife Helen prepare their repose from a day’s celebration of their 25^th wedding anniversary, a motorcycle stopped outside the Mendozas’ house and a man’s voice called out Kapitan Angel’s name. Thinking that the man was a belated well-wisher, the barangay captain went out to check his visitor. He was instead met by gunshots.

Badly wounded were Kapitan Angel and his wife Helen. The couple’s niece Shirly Magpantay and husband Norman, who happened to be visiting for the occasion, were also hit. According to a report prepared by the Camarines Sur Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace, the bullet that hit Angel on his right arm pierced through his armpit, while Helen suffered a bullet each on her leg and arm, crushing her elbow. The victims were rushed to the Bicol Medical Center in Naga City for treatment.

Neighbors of the Mendozas confirmed having heard the motorcycle speed away at around 11 PM, following the gunshots. They found eight spent bullet casings for a .45 caliber pistol.

While news reports relate that the police are still investigating the incident and have yet to point to suspects, the people of San Pablo have no puzzles on the perpetrators and their motives in attempting to murder their village chief, and in the end almost carrying out a massacre.

Barangay Captain Angel Mendoza is a well-liked fellow and leader. He was San Pablo’s barangay captain from 1984 to 1994, again from 1997 to 2002, and yet again from 2007 up to the present. The people of San Pablo can suggest nothing in Kapitan Angel’s character and performance that would stoke the ire of anyone. Except, they say, when Kapitan Angel stood up for his barrio constituents against the harassment of the 902^nd Infantry Brigade from 2007 to 2009.

The people of San Pablo and its neighboring barangays in Del Gallego have long been committed in advocating the fight for human rights. They have also gained victories in reducing land rent through legal mass struggles, and are active in joining rallies and mobilizations that advance the people’s interests. It was not unexpected of San Pablo and its neighboring barangays to be focused on by the past regime’s Oplan Bantay Laya. Apparently, the military believes that those who righteously fight for the people’s interests, or simply, those who join rallies, are enemies of the State.

From May 2007 until 2009, San Pablo and its neighboring barangays were occupied by the army’s Special Operations Teams. The soldiers started out with campaigning for congressional candidate Dato Arroyo(which caught the media’s eye), then conducting patrols and operations, in the process intimidating the people, most especially those whom the military suspects of being NPA supporters, or rally participants. A military camp would eventually be set up at neighboring Sta. Rita.

This was what Brgy. Captain Angel Mendoza faced up to when in 2007, he chastised soldiers of the 902^nd IBde on their conduct and warned them that no less than the Barangay Council will file charges against any violation of San Pablo people’s rights. Apart from being barangay captain, Mendoza was then BAYAN MUNA Municipal Coordinator for Del Gallego.

Regardless of his stature as a barangay leader, Kapitan Angel was still subjected to various forms of harassment and intimidation. On November 2007, he was made to grasp an M-16 rifle and was photographed against his will. He was also coerced into betraying his constituents and was told to identify those who supposedly are NPA supporters, to which Kapitan Angel strongly stood up against. Then on 2009, together with his cousin and fellow barangay leader Diego de Torres, Kapitan Angel was once again subjected to interrogation by the soldiers and was pressed to “clear” their names of being NPA supporters and active rally participants.

Through the years of Oplan Bantay Laya’s torments, Brgy. Captain Angel Mendoza has not faltered in protecting his constituents and has remained devoted in his principles of fighting for what is just, even as the government’s counter-insurgency campaign has assumed another name in Oplan Bayanihan. The counter-insurgency fanatics may well be maddened by Kapitan Angel’s stance. This may be as infuriating for the 902^nd IBde to have him killed.

Shortly after the interrogation in 2009, San Pablo lost one of their leaders when Diego de Torres was extra-judicially murdered allegedly by elements of the 902^nd IBde. With the recent events threatening to once again put the barrio in martial plague, the people of San Pablo can only conclude that Oplan Bantay Laya’s Palparan model of killing activists is still being employed under Oplan Bayanihan.  But ultimately, as they are fortunate to still having their barangay captain to fight with them, so are the people of San Pablo most sharpened by collective experience forged by years of Kapitan Angel’s leadership.

EJK victim’s son escapes attempt on his life

Daet, Camarines Norte_ Brazenness has typified extra-judicial killings in desperation of muzzling their victims. Relly Bermas of Barangay Malaya, Labo, Camarines Norte has once again confronted this maddening truth as he has narrowly broken away from his killers.

Exactly four months ago, Relly’s mother Merlyn was shot dead in broad daylight by suspected elements of the 49th Infantry Battalion based in Camarines Norte. Merlyn was then Barangay Captain of Malaya, Labo, a staunch human rights advocate and was a vital witness in the case against 49th IB’s massacre of the Mancera family.


On December 7, such impunity was again bared when gunmen shot at Relly and his companion while at a meal stop on their trip to Manila. Karapatan-Camarines Norte Coordinator Maricel Delen reported that at around 7 pm, she received a text message along with alerts of missed calls from Relly. Through conversations and text messages, the distraught victim narrated how he was able to elude his killers, but was deeply concerned about his companion’s welfare.

Relly D. Bermas Jr, together with fellow magkakabod (small-scale miner) and Malaya Barangay Councilman Joselito Oreza, were on their way to Manila after having consulted with Karapatan officers in Daet that afternoon. They were to meet with lawyers in a case conference concerning the extra-judicial killing of his mother. According to Relly, as their bus plies the junction of Maharlika and Quirino Highways, a familiar man boarded. Some meters further, the bus turned for a meal stop at Barangay Tabugon,

Sta. Elena. As Relly alighted the bus along with Joselito and the other passengers, he again noticed two men who were apparently  looking out for someone. Sensing danger, Relly ran off just as he and Joselito were shot at by the two men. He dashed and hid in a  dark foliage away from the meal stop, and only until then was he able to seek help and contact the provincial coordinator of  Karapatan. He still worries of Kagawad Joselito Oriza’s safety.

Who would want Relly killed? He has no questions of who would benefit his silence. After Kapitana Merlyn’s death, Relly confronted 1st Lt. Alfie Lee of the 49th IB with his mother’s murder. He was also strong-minded on filing criminal cases against Kapitana  Merlyn’s alleged murderers.  Since then, soldiers have been asking for Relly’s whereabouts, causing him to fail to attend his mother’s burial for fear of harassment. Even until the 49th IB occupied Brgy. Malaya on November 2012, Peace and Development Teams have likewise been looking for Relly, accusing him of being an NPA supporter, and thereby impeding his livelihood as he has to seek refuge against endangerment from the men of 1st Lt. Alfie Lee. It is noteworthy that 1st Lt. Lee was also the commanding officer of the soldiers responsible for the massacre of the Mancera family, also of Brgy. Malaya.

For the meantime, Relly is far from imminent danger, although word has still to be heard about his companion Councilman Oreza. Nonetheless, Relly remains firm in pursuing his fight against violations of human rights. All the more is he determined to file charges against his attackers. The men and the establishment that have wanted him killed have failed on sabotaging the progress of  the case against the 49th IB, and more so on silencing a man fearless in his fight for justice.#