[asia-apec 524] Militarization in Quezon

[PAN Asia Pacific]

FORWARDED MAIL -------
From: kmp at info.com.ph
Date: 22 Jul 98

Rights groups claim militarization on the rise in Quezon 
by GinaMission Cyberdyaryo 
www.codewan.htm

Militarization in Quezon is on the rise again, or so some human
rights groups claim.

 "They [members of the 74th IBPA] regularly come to our school and ask us
students at gunpoint if we or our parents are members of the NPA [New
People=92s Army]," said Evelyn Manggubat, 14, describing the harassment she=
 and
other students experienced in San Francisco, Quezon.

 "They threaten elementary students that they or their parents will be=
 killed if
they are found to be NPAs. They make passes at high school girls," Manggubat
added.

 "They asked me, with their guns to my head, if I=92m an NPA member and
even before I could even answer, demanded that I surrender. So when I told
them that I=92m not an NPA, they hit me with their guns and then left,=
 warning me
to watch out," said Ruben Amaro, 28, an active member of the Mabuhay
Farmers Association (MFA).

 "I was asked by Major Iba=F1ez of the 74th IBPA (Infantry Batallion,
Philippine Army) to add to a list of medicines that they showed me. I looked=
 at
the list and when I said that maybe they could add =91anesthesia=92 to their
list, they
accused me of being a medical officer of the NPA," narrated Vergie=
 Panlubasan,
a barangay councilor in one of the barrios in San Francisco.=20

 "They always came to our house after that and watched everything we did,"
added Panlubasan. "Sometimes they would stay there for a week or a month.
My family members got so scared, my husband=92s sister and mother left after=
 the
first week."

 This may sound like many of the human rights abuse stories of the 80s, when
militarization reigned and curfews, "salvaging," sexual harassment, and=
 constant
surveillance by the military were common. But guess again: the events=
 related by
Manggubat, Amaro and Panlubasan took place in the municipality of San
Francisco, Quezon province, in 1998.=20

 Recent events have placed the otherwise quiet province of Quezon in the
spotlight. On July 7 to 9, farmers from San Francisco camped out in front of
DAR to demand the immediate distribution of the land in the controversial
Tumbaga Ranch owned by James Murray. The farmers are also demanding the
demilitarization of the area.

 Records from Amihan, a national alliance of women and peasants, reveal that
as Tumabaga Ranch expanded over the last few years to accommodate a
growing herd of cattle, farmers occupying adjacent lands were subjected to
evictions allegedly perpetrated by Murray=92s private armies and civilian=
 armed
forces geographical units (CAFGUs) paid by Murray himself. The farmers,
fearing that they would lose lands they had tilled for several decades,
organized
the MFA, whose membership has expanded to include farmers from neighboring
municipalities.

 From 1989 to 1991 Addie Rebot, a former branch manager of Tumbaga
Ranch, and his group of CAFGUs reportedly set fire several times to farmers=
=92
houses to force them to evacuate. More than 500 houses were razed to the
ground=20

 In 1988, when MFA was formed, its leaders were charged and detained for
two years. The CAFGUs, with the approval of the 31st IBPA assigned in the
area, conducted incessant military operations, indiscriminately firing their
M-14
and M-16 rifles in the barangays.=20

 With the help of other human rights groups, the campaign against the
Tumbaga Ranch private armies, the 31st IBPA and the CAFGUs began in 1993.
The campaign was supported by the Quezon provincial board, resulting in the
transfer of the 31st IBPA and disbanding of the CAFGUs. The 74th IB took
over. But things didn=92t improve.

 Reports from the fact-finding mission conducted in San Francisco on March
13-15, 1998, by the People=92s Alliance for Justice and Peace (PAJP),
Bayan-Southern Tagalog, Amihan, KARAPATAN and the Children=92s
Rehabilitation Center (CRC), which was submitted to the Commission on
Human Rights, reveal several human rights violations allegedly committed=
 against
residents in the area by the 74th IBPA.

 A report made by Mary Joan Guan, Amihan=92s representative to Media Task
Force, San Francisco, chronicles a string of murders that took place in San
Francisco since February this year. The common denominator among the=
 victims:
they were farmers and active members of the MFA who have openly demanded
land distribution.

 The first victim was Marcelito Cacal, 33, a farm worker of the Tumbaga
Ranch. Cacal disappeared on February 13, and on April 24 his remains were
found buried inside Tumbaga Ranch itself. The second victim was Arnulfo
Banares, 51, whose body was found forced inside a crevice in an isolated=
 spot in
barrio Cauayan on May 6. The third victim, Edgar Montemor, 30, was found
dead, covered with two large rocks along the seashore of barrio Pung-oy,=
 last
June 4.

 Three separate sworn statements made by Blessie Cacal, Arnel Rosita, and
Rev. Fr. Mario Ronelo Meude and executed before the municipality of San
Francisco, detail Cacal=92s "abduction, disappearance, and eventual=
 salvaging" by
the 74th IBPA. Marilag Nano, also in a sworn statement, narrates the=
 military=92s
"abduction, disappearance, and eventual salvaging" of Banares.=20

 Amalia, Montemor=92s widow, narrates the circumstances leading to the
alleged "salvaging" of her late husband in another sworn statement. Police
authorities earlier claimed that he had "drowned to death."

 Relatives of the victims suspect that the killings could have been=
 perpetrated
by the landlords through their private armies and the 74th IBPA, who=
 happened
to have a detachment inside Tumbaga Ranch. Officials of the 74th IBPA also
have a base inside the hacienda of the Matias family.

 MFA sought the help of Amihan and KARAPATAN to conduct a forensic
study on the bodies of the victims. Initial findings indicate that all of
the victims
were summarily executed. Cacal=92s skull had a large hole ,presumably from a
gunshot at close range. A slug was also found in Banares=92 body. Dr. Jerome
Bailen, a forensic anthropologist from the University of the Philippines,
disclosed
that Banares=92 throat was so deeply cut, only a part of his spinal cord=
 held his
body together. Montemor=92s body reportedly had wounds in the abdominal=
 area.

 All these reports may mean different things to different people. But to the
farmer-residents of San Francisco and other municipalities in Quezon=
 province,
it=92s simple: The human rights violations committed against the victims by=
 the
military and private armies took place because they happened to be
farmer-members of the MFA - and because they had publicly clamored for land
distribution.

 MFA and other human rights groups held a picket-rally in front of Camp
Aguinaldo last July 8 and demanded that Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado
demilitarize Quezon province. Mercado promised to "look into the matter."

 Last July 14, however, the 74th IBPA was cleared of the allegations of
harrassment in San Francisco. Sec. Mercado, who visited Quezon province to
"get the side" of the military, in clearing them warned that the "Estrada
administration will not tolerate any human rights violations by the=
 military."

 San Francisco local officials assured Mercado that the complaints of the
farmers were just "purely allegations," adding that the army batallion had=
 been
doing its job well. The farmers, they said, were just "biased against them."=
=20

 On July 16 the farmers, after a week-long wait for their demands for land
distribution and demilitarization of their area, were back in Manila. They=
 were
scheduled to hold a picket-rally the following day at Camp Aguinaldo to=
 again
demand the demilitarization and pull-out of the 74th IBPA.

 Previous accusations of military involvement in the Tumbaga Ranch-MFA
conflict over land distribution have been obscured by Mercado=92s=
 pronouncement
of military innocence, despite evidence pointing to the contrary. Does this=
 mean
that military rule is back? Is militarization to be a fact of life in Quezon
once
more?