BAGUIO CITY – President Aquino was urged last
week by an international human rights coalition and religious groups to
investigate the recent massacre of the Ligiws, an indigenous activist family
allegedly by military men in Baay-Licuan, Abra.
This, as another human
rights worker, also a community organizer identified as William Bugatti of
Ifugao Peasant Movement was shot by still unidentified men while on his way to
Kiangan, Ifugao night of March
26.
The Tongtongan Ti
Umili, a non-government organization based in Baguio said, Bugatti died from
three gunshot wounds.
According to the TTU,
Bugatti was named in the Armed Forces of the Philippines’s list of “target
persons.”
Meanwhile, the
non-government Cordillera Human Rights Alliance together with the Ligiw family
filed a complaint against the 41st Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army March 26
with the Commission on Human Rights-Cordillera here pressing independent
investigation by government on the massacre to pinpoint perpetrators.
Later they held a
press conference at Mandarin Restaurant here and pressed for justice for the
slain family members.
The International
Coalition on Human Rights in the Philippines – Canada chapter, condemned the
brutal killing of Freddie “Fermin” Ligiw, Edgar Ligiw and their father, Licuben
Ligiw on March 2 in at Sukaw, Domenglay Baay-Licuan allegedly by members of the
41st IBPA.
“In solidarity with their family and indigenous community, we demand speedy justice for them. We call on you to immediate order an independent and impartial investigation, prosecution of those responsible for this heinous crime and speedy justice for the victims,” the ICHRP-CC urged the President in statement.
“In solidarity with their family and indigenous community, we demand speedy justice for them. We call on you to immediate order an independent and impartial investigation, prosecution of those responsible for this heinous crime and speedy justice for the victims,” the ICHRP-CC urged the President in statement.
“Elements of the 41st
Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) are believed to be responsible
for the killing,” the statement said.
“On Feb. 19, soldiers
from this battalion forcibly took Freddie to serve as a guide in their
operation against suspected New People’s Army combatants in the area,”The group
told the President. “Subsequently, Fermin and his brother and father were
reported missing and their dead bodies found on March 7. The 41st IB has a long
record of human rights violations in Abra province that includes harassment and
intimidation, political vilification, arbitrary arrest and detention of
ordinary civilians.” The massacre of the Ligiw family, the coalition
said, was “the latest in spate of
killings, abductions and similarly grievous human rights violations committed
against leaders and members of people’s organizations that have been reported
since January 2014. Freddie was a member of a youth organization,
Sidakan-Anakbayan, and with his brother and father and other family members was
member of the Cordillera People’s Alliance, KASTAN – Kakailian Salakniban
Tay Amin ti Nagtaudan (People Defending the Ancestral Land) and BaayLicuaan
Stand Up for Your Rights that successfully resisted the exploration activities
of Canadian company, Olympus Mining Co. “
The rights coalition
said “Even as we are writing this letter, another human rights advocate has
been killed. Romeo Capalla was killed on Saturday, March 15, 2014 in Oton,
Iloilo. The 65-year old Capalla was the chairperson of the board of directors
of the Panay Fair Trade Center, a member organization of the International
Federation of Alternative Trade.
“Mr. President, we are
deeply troubled by the deafening silence of your administration in the face of
this brutal violence committed by state agents against citizens of your
country. Your government’s commitment to human rights has lost
credibility. The Aquino government is following the pattern of past
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who played deaf and blind to the
extrajudicial killings that escalated into a crisis during her administration,
which to this day, has remained unabated.
“Our observation is
supported by the occurrence of extrajudicial killings almost every week since
the beginning of 2014: Marcelo Monterona, killed on January 5 in Maco,
Compostela Valley ArmanPadino, killed on January 13 in Hacienda Dolores in
Pampanga; Henry Orbina, killed on January 30 in Cabid-an Sorsogon City;Rolando
Ambungan, killed on January 31 in Buenavista, Agusandel Norte; Julieto Lauron,
killed on February 5 in Haindangon, Valencia City; and RosauroRayteran, killed
on Feb. 6 in San Pascual, Libon, Albay.
“The pattern indicates
to us that the Philippine government is intensifying its implementation of the
Operational Plan Bayanihan. It is cynical of the Philippine
government to be ramping up the counter-insurgency war, which the United
Nations and human rights organizations around the world have pointed to as the
root of the extrajudicial killing crisis, while seeking a seat at the United
Nations Human Rights Council.
“We call on the
Philippine government to immediately order an independent, impartial and
competent investigation into the killing of Freddie “Fermin”, Edgar and
Licuben Ligiw and speedy prosecution of those responsible for the crime in order
to render speedy justice to the victims.”
The group also
demanded pull-out the 41st IBPA and all military troops from Abra to ensure the
investigation is independent and impartial
They also demanded formation
of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of
representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the
Commission on Human Rights that will look into the above mentioned incidents of
human rights violations, and to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators.
“We demand the
immediate withdrawal of Oplan Bayanihan, the Philippine government’s
counterinsurgency program to demonstrate its serious intent to observe the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all the major Human Rights
instruments that it is a party and signatory to.
Resume the formal
peace talks of the Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic
Front of the Philippines to discuss the roots of the armed conflict, and
an end to militarization of communities.”
Signatories included
those from Akdaan, Anakbayan, Asilo, Basics Community News Service, and Bayan.
Others included
Beaconsfield United Church (Montreal, Quebec), Beaconsfield Initiative
,Binnadang-Migrante (Toronto, Ontario) Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human
Rights (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Centre d'appui aux
Philippines - Centre for Philippine Concerns (Montreal, Quebec), Centre des
travailleusese ttravailleurs immigrants - Immigrant Worker's Centre (Montreal,
Quebec), Filipino Christian Fellowship, Toronto, Canada, Filipino Migrant
Workers’ Movement (Toronto, Ontario); Gabriela – Ontario (Toronto, Ontario),
IWworkers - Association of Filipino Women Workers (Toronto, Ontario), Migrante
Canada, Migrante – British Columbia, Migrante – Ontario; PATAC (Toronto,
Ontario), Philippine Solidarity Group – Toronto (Ontario); United Church of
Canada; Logan Sellathurai, retired trade union activist, Rev. Stuart Lyster, retired United Church
minister among others.
The
International Coalition on Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) is a
global network of organizations outside the Philippines who are
concerned about human rights Philippines and committed to work for just and
lasting peace in the Philippines.