BEHIND THE SCENES

Unexplained killings
ALFRED P. DIZON

Despite explanations of administration officials that the Arroyo government made significant progress in addressing unexplained killings with a total of 41 cases already lodged in court against suspects, of whom 25 are already in jail, pundits are saying much needs to be desired in going after murderers. Task Force Usig, an ad hoc group of the Philippine National Police tasked to investigate cases of unexplained killings, noted in its report to Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno that of these 41 cases already filed in court, 25 involved the killings of activists and 16 in murders of media persons.

A report prepared by lawyer and Police Director Jefferson Soriano, Task Force Usig commander was emailed to the Northern Philippine Times saying as of mid-October this year, 25 suspects were arrested—13 in the cases of murdered political activists and 12 in the cases of slain journalists. He said Estanislao Bismanos, Jerry Cabayag and Randy Grecia—the convicted suspects in the case of the killing of journalist Marlene Esperat—are now serving their sentences at the Tacurong City Jail in Sultan Kudarat.

PO1 Guillermo Wapile, the convicted suspect in the killing of journalist Edgar Damalerio, is now behind bars at the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa.

Other suspects in the killings of journalists are now detained in various jails across the country, such as the Manila City Jail, the Ilocos Norte Provincial Jail, Puerto Princesa Provincial Jail, Saranggani Provincial Jail, Dipolog City Reformatory Center, Quezon Provincial Jail, and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facilities in Pagbilao, Quezon and Bacoor, Cavite.

In the killings of militants, the report noted that suspects in various cases are detained at the jails in La Castellana, Negros Occidental; Kananga, Leyte; Tayug, Pangasinan; Quezon City; and Ma-a, Davao City, among others. The TFU report ADDED police investigators have already acted decisively on more than half of the 143 incidents of unexplained political and media killings, leading to the filing of 77 cases against suspects.

Earlier, citing this report, Assistant Secretary for the Interior Danny Valero said the police leadership's exhaustive efforts to resolve these cases as shown by its 54 percent accomplishment rate, belie claims by militant groups that the Arroyo government has failed to act on the killings of political activists and journalists.

Valero added contrary to claims by militant groups that the death toll has rocketed to more than 800 cases since 2001, only 143 were verified by the PNP through the task force.

“Many of the cases that militant groups like Karapatan had erroneously included in their supposed tally of unexplained killings were excluded by the task force,” he said, "because these were attributed to non-political or unrelated causes such as personal quarrels or romantic entanglements and feuds over money extorted by communist insurgents from business establishments and individuals.

Other cases involved legitimate encounters between law enforcers and New People's Army rebels, Valero noted, adding of the total number of 143 cases verified by the TFG, 116 involved killings of political activists and 27 work-related killings of journalists.

As of mid-October, 56 cases or 48 percent of cases involving political activists have already been filed against suspects, while two cases or two percent were considered dropped and closed due to the death of the suspects.

Twenty-one cases or 18 percent were considered cold cases as there had been no development or progress in the investigation for more than a year, and 37 cases or 32 percent remain under investigation. In the process, 13 suspects were arrested while two suspects surrendered to the authorities. Out of the 56 cases filed, one was amicably settled, 25 were lodged in the proper courts, 6 are awaiting resolution at the prosecutor's office and 24 were provisionally dismissed for lack of evidence.

In the cases of slain media practitioners, out of the 27 work-related cases, 21 cases or 78 percent were filed, three cases or 11 percent were considered cold cases as there had been no development or progress in the investigation for more than a year and three or 11 percent remain under investigation.

Twelve suspects were arrested, 11 surrendered and four were convicted with the penalty of reclusion perpetua in relation to the killings of Damalerio of the Zamboanga Scribe and Esperat of the Midland Review.

Out of the 21 cases filed, two were terminated with the conviction of the four accused, 16 were lodged in the proper courts, one still awaiting resolution at the prosecutor's office, and two were dismissed by the courts. Ok. But where is Jonas Burgos.