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. ###

Death squads accused in killing of village chief, 4-year old, in Cam Norte

Repost from bulatlat.com

Death squads accused in killing of village chief, 4-year old, in Cam Norte

Published on August 9, 2012

 

Death squads accused in killing of village chief, 4-year old, in Cam Norte

Published on August 9, 2012

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One of the victims, Merlyn Diones Bermas, exposed the the February 12, 2012 massacre involving members of the Philippine Army’s 49th Infantry Battalion.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — A 48-year old woman and a four-year old boy were killed by members of a suspected death squad in Labo, Camarines Norte in Bicol.
At around 3:30 pm on August 7, Merlyn Diones Bermas, the village chairwoman of Malaya village in Labo and pre-school pupil Gerald Oreza were shot and killed by four members of what is alleged to be a death squad operated by the Philippine Army’s 9th Infantry Division, according to an urgent action alert sent by human rights group Karapatan. Injured during the same incident was 45-year old farmer Cenon Maulion, also a resident of the same barangay as Bermas.

That day, Bermas was returning to her house after going to the market at the Labo town center. She and other residents of Malaya village were on board two “haulers,” the usual transportation vehicle for villagers in the area. A hauler is a motorcycle with a sidecar without a roof.
The child Gerald was inside the sidecar, sitting next to the farmer Maulion. Gerald’s mother, in the meantime, sat behind the motorcycle driver, and Bermas sat at the rear of the motorycle. On board the second hauler were four other Malaya residents.

As the two vehicles made its way towards Labo and was passing through the adjacent village of Anameam, a motorcycle ridden by two men sped past the second hauler, and positioned itself between the two vehicles, just behind Bermas.

One of the men on the motorcycle pulled out a gun, prompting one of the passengers of the second hauler to shout out a warning to Bermas.
The gunman fired twice, hitting Bermas in the back, and the four-year-old Gerald in the head. The gunman fired for a third time, grazing Maulion in the back. As the gunmen fled, a second motorcycle, with two men on board, followed, speeding past the two vehicles.

Witnesses and the other passengers took Bermas and Gerald to the Camarines Norte Provincial Hospital in Talobatib village, Labo, where she was declared dead. Gerald was transferred to the Bicol Medical Center in Naga City where he later died. Maulion was grazed by a bullet on his back.

According to reports from Karapatan, the witnesses did not see the faces of the perpetrators except to say that the drivers of the motorcycles wore helmets. The passengers, one of whom was the gunman, wore ski masks. They also wore long-sleeved shirts and gloves. The gunman’s motorcycle had no plate number, instead only a “for registration” sign. The second motorcycle’s plate number was covered by a black jacket that was tied around the waist of one of the passengers.

Karapatan said that as the chairwoman of Malaya village, Bermas helped expose the Feb. 25, 2012 massacre in her community, where farmer Benjamin Mancera was killed, along with his two sons, Michael, 10 and Richard, seven years old.

Mancera’s 14-year-old daughter was wounded when 49th Infantry Battalion soldiers strafed their hut. Bermas also assisted the surviving members of the Mancera family in seeking safety after the military issued death threats against them.

Karapatan also said that Bermas’s daughter had told the human rights group that her mother had also received death threats from suspected military agents on her cellphone. The military also accused Bermas of being a member of the New People’s Army and threatened to kill her.
Bermas is survived by her husband and their five children.

Military implicated in massacre of farmer, 2 sons in Cam Norte

Repost from bulatlat.com

Military implicated in massacre of farmer, 2 sons in Cam Norte

Published on March 7, 2012

 Benjamin Mancera died while embracing his seven-year old son Richard; another son Michael, 10, died still holding a ballpen in the bedroom.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Ella (not her real name), 14, never imagined that she would lose his father and two brothers in one day.

On Feb. 25, just after lunch, Ella saw soldiers approaching their house located in purok 6, sitio Mapatong, barangay Malaya, Labo, Camarines Norte. She then woke up her father, Benjamin Mancera, 54, who was having a nap. At that time, Michael, 10, was studying his lessons and the youngest of three siblings, Richard, aged seven, was playing with bubbles.
Benjamin looked out the window and called out to Richard to come to him. Not long after, their house, made of bamboo and dried anahaw leaves, was peppered with bullets. Ella was lying on the ground beside her father and brother. After 30 minutes of gunfire, there was silence. A soldier came inside, and said in Filipino, “There are dead children. There are dead children.” Benjamin died while embracing his son Richard. In a room was Michael who was found lifeless, still holding a ballpen. Another man was found dead in the sala. Only Ella survived. She sustained wounds on her arms and legs.

“The soldiers peppered the house of the Manceras with bullets even if they knew that there were civilians there. This is a clear violation of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) or the law on armed conflict that primarily protects civilians and non-combatants and provides restrictions on warfare,” Maricel Delen, coordinator of Karapatan-Camarines Norte, said in a statement.

Following the incident, officers of the 49th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) declared that Benjamin was a New People’s Army (NPA) fighter, saying that what happened was a legitimate encounter. Investigation by human rights groups in Bicol revealed that Mancera was a farmer and small-scale miner and concluded it was a massacre. A copy of the report was sent to Bulatlat.com through email.

Lourdes Mancera and her daughter Ella (not her real name), 14, (second from left) attend the burial of Benjamin, Richard and Michael.(Photo courtesy of Karapatan-Camarines Norte / bulatlat.com)

In a three-day fact-finding mission held Feb. 27 to 29, members of Karapatan-Camarines Norte and Karapatan-Bicol interviewed Ella who is recuperating at the Daet Provincial Hospital, still heavily guarded by soldiers and policemen. They also went to the funeral parlor where the father and sons were brought. Joined by some 130 residents of barangay Malaya at neighboring barangay Malibago, the fact-finding team also went to the house of the Manceras. They were able to recover 231 empty shells.

During the interview with members of the team, Ella insisted that her father was not an NPA. While she admitted that an NPA stayed at their house, a certain Ka Pedro, the latter was not able to return fire.

In a separate statement sent through email, the NPA’s Armando Catapia Command confirmed that their comrade, alias Ka Gupi or Rafael V. Llantino, was killed in the incident. The NPA, however, said Benjamin was a civilian.

In her testimony, Ella said after the shooting, the soldiers asked her if she knew the NPA and she replied that the man’s name is Pedro. She said there were about 20 soldiers in their house. The soldiers gave her biscuits and medicines. After around three to four hours, she was placed in a hammock and brought to the barangay (village) hall. She was given first aid and then brought to the Daet Provincial Hospital. It was past 9 p.m. when they reached the hospital.

Members of the fact-finding team visit the bullet-riddled house of the Manceras.(Photo courtesy of Karapatan-Camarines Norte / bulatlat.com)

The next day, Ella’s mother, Lourdes, arrived. She has been working as a domestic helper in Manila. Accompanied by the village chieftain, Lourdes was not allowed by the soldiers, who have been guarding Ella, to see and speak to her daughter.

The following day, Delen said, they had to assert the right of Lourdes to visit Ella. When the soldiers finally gave in, a soldier secretly handed an envelope to Lourdes, containing cash amounting to P10,000 ($232). On the same night, the soldiers on board a military truck, went to the funeral parlor and brought some grocery items for the wake of Benjamin and his two sons.

The fact-finding team also learned that on Feb. 26, soldiers of the 49th IB under the command of a certain 2nd Lt. Lee ordered some residents of barangay Malaya to recover the bodies of the Manceras.

One of the soldiers told the local residents that the NPAs fired first. The soldier also warned the residents not to entertain NPA guerrillas in their homes or else they would suffer the same fate.

Soldiers guard the funeral parlor where the Manceras where brought.(Photo courtesy of Karapatan-Camarines Norte / bulatlat.com)

In its statement, the NPA’s Armando Catapia Command said that since the counterinsurgency program Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Peaceful and Resilient Communities) or Pamana started in Labo, soldiers have been occupying village halls, chapels and schools in 14 sub-villages. The soldiers, according to the NPA, are conducting census, obliging residents to attend their meetings, threatening civilians of being arrested, stealing their crops and poultry, among others.

The four were buried on March 1 at the Bulhao Catholic Cemetery in barangay Bulhao, Labo, Camarines Norte.
Meanwhile, Ella stopped schooling. Before, she and her two brothers would walk for two hours every day to reach the Malaya Elementary School. Her freedom to live a simple life has been taken away.