Two enlisted Philippine Army personnel were convicted for the June 2010 murder of Negros Occidental Bayan Muna Party coordinator Benjamin Bayless in June 2010.
In a March 31, 2022 decision, Acting Presiding Judge Ana Celeste P. Bernad of Branch 42 of the Bacolod City Regional Trial Court found Rafael C. Cordova and Reygine G. Laus guilty for the murder of Bayles in Himamaylan City.
“From the entirety of the testimonial and documentary evidence proffered by the prosecution, this Coutt is of the considered view that the prosecution was able to establish the guilt of the accused by the quantum of proof sufficient to produce a moral certainty that would convince the conscience of those who are to act in judgement,” Judge Bernad’s decision reads.
In addition to life imprisonment (reclusion perpetua), the Court also ordered the convicts to pay Bayles’ heirs a total of Php300,000 as civil indemnity, moral damages and exemplary damages.
The convicts were tried as Roger Bajon and Ronnie Caurino, respectively, names they gave the Himamaylan Police when arrested after the shooting.
The soldiers were wearing helmets onboard a black Honda TMX motorcycle with no license plates when arrested by the police who were alerted by a witness to the shooting.
The police also confiscated two unlicensed .45 caliber handguns with live bullets from Cordova and Laus.
During a hearing in April 2013, then 61st Infantry Battalion commander Lt. Col Ricardo B. Bayhon identified the two murderers as military enlisted men.
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers president Edre Olalia welcomed the conviction, crediting the victory to lawyer Benjamin Ramos who acted as one of the private prosecutors in the case.
Ramos was himself assassinated in November 2018.
“This is for you, Ben Bayles and Ben Ramos, the latter who was with us to see this through before he himself was killed in 2018,” Olalia said in a statement.
“This is a clear message and warning to those who think there is immunity for impunity,” he added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/ben-ramos.jpg422960Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-04-18 18:10:372022-04-19 11:19:34Court convicts soldiers for 2010 murder of Bayan Muna coordinator Ben Bayles
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) welcomed President Rodrigo Duterte’s veto of the SIM (subscriber identity module) and social media registration bill, calling the controversial proposal a dangerous measure.
Bayan said the bill will undermine privacy and will create a chilling effect on consumers and social media users.
“We welcome the veto of the SIM card registration bill even as we continue to point out state-sponsored attacks on privacy are happening even without the SIM card registration measure,” BAYAN secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said.
Malacañan Palace announced Friday that Duterte vetoed the bill that would require individuals to register their ownership of a SIM card and use their real names when creating social media accounts.
“The President has decided to veto the consolidated Senate Bill No. 2395/House Bill No. 5793, which seeks to mandate the registration of all SIM cards and social media accounts, with the purpose of deterring electronic communication-aided crimes,” communications secretary and acting Presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar said in a statement Friday.
“The President noted that the inclusion of social media providers in the registration requirement was not part of the original version of the bill and needs a more thorough study,” Andanar said.
He added that Duterte similarly found that “certain aspects of state intrusion, or the regulation thereof, have not been duly defined, discussed, or threshed out in the enrolled bill, with regard to social media registration.”
The President was “constrained to disagree with the inclusion of social media in the measure (as it) may give rise to a situation of dangerous state intrusion and surveillance threatening many constitutionally protected rights,” Andanar further said.
Reyes, in a rare instance of agreeing with Duterte, pointed out that the proposed law is a form of state surveillance on the people and does not deter crime.
‘Weaponized social media’
But the activist leader pointed out that the government has “weaponized” social media and has attacked citizens online.
“On the issue of the proliferation of anonymous troll accounts, this must be addressed first by government dismantling its own troll machinery used against legitimate dissent by the people,” Reyes said.
A big part of the problem is government itself as it benefits directly and indirectly from nefarious online activities, he added.
He also demanded that government must address the spate of Distributed Denial of Service attacks on the websites of human rights defenders and the media.
“The government has not investigated these DDoS attacks which are happening so dangerously close to the May 9 elections,” he said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/duterte.jpg12011800Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-04-15 19:20:142022-04-15 19:21:53BAYAN welcomes Duterte’s veto of SIM card and social media registration bill
Church and family say Aldeem Yañez is an exemplary church worker and Christian activist, not a terrorist
A church group as well as the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) denounced the arrest of church and development worker Aldeem Yañez at three o’clock in the morning of April 10, Palm Sunday, saying the charges against him are “blatant fabrication.”
The Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR) said it denounces the early morning raid that is part of an “established pattern by state forces to conduct search or arrest operations in the dead of night.”
“Blatant fabrication of evidence and pro forma testimonies by arresting officers are an affront to truth and common decency,” the PCPR added.
Supreme Bishop Rhee Timbang himself spoke in behalf of the IFI in demanding Yañez’s release, saying the arrest was illegal and the charge of illegal possession of firearms against him are trumped up.
“We demand for the release of Aldeem Yañez and for the dropping of all trumped-up charges against him. We oppose illegal arrest and detention, and call for the stop of red-tagging! We shout to stop church persecution! We call for the resumption of peace talks!” Bishop Timbang said in a statement.
An activist and a repeated victim of red-tagging, Yañez is accused by the police and military to be a member of the New People’s Army.
Sunday’s arrest last Sunday is Yañez’s second. He was among 13 church workers arrested in General Santos City in July 2018.
Bishop Timbang however denied police and military allegations their church worker is a member of the NPA, adding Yañez is an IFI member in good standing.
He said Yañez is “active and committed in his participation to the life and work of the Church as being a consistent church youth leader in the parish, diocesan, regional [Mindanao], and national level.”
The prelate said Yañez was at one time the National Youth President of the IFI.
“As expression of his ministry, he served as volunteer staff of Visayas-Mindanao Regional Office for Development, a development program of the IFI, and of Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform [PEPP], a network of peace advocates in the country, seeking for the resumption of peace talks between the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) and the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) to resolve basic social problems in our land,” Bishop Timbang added.
“We in the IFI leadership decry this grave abuse of police and military power and the cooptation of the civil courts. We root this in the tyrannical rule of the present dispensation which has no regard and respect of the law, human rights, social justice and human dignity,” he said.
Bishop Timbang said Yañez is a musician and songwriter of many church songs used popularly within and outside the IFI.
Family of church workers
Yañez is a brother to an IFI Bishop and a Priest.
In an appeal, Fr. June Mark Yañez said his brother could not have kept guns inside their Cagayan de Oro home where Aldeem was taking care of their elderly parents.
“Who in their right minds would be keeping firearms and explosives in such a situation? Besides, Aldeem has no record of being a gun smuggler or drug dealer that would force him to keep such weapons where his beloved parents are,” Fr. Yañez asked.
The Priest said their brother is an exemplary servant of the Church and the Filipino people.
“He may not have become a priest like me or a bishop like our other brother, but we could not compare to his dedication to serve the Church. The guitar is his favorite instrument in spreading the good news. It is also his weapon of resistance as an activist, not guns and bullets that were planted as evidence against him by the shameless and desperate state agents who arrested him,” Fr. Yañez said.
Bishop Redeemer Yañez for his part said their brother Aldeem is an activist “if the word is to be defined as a person who sees the misery of his people, who hears the cry of the poor, who is concerned about their sufferings, and journey with them in the path of emancipation.”
Bishop Yañez said that their brother’s concern for the poor is rooted on his deep faith that was nurtured by their family, his nationalist church, and by his long involvement in the ecumenical and developmental works.
Aside from being a former national youth president of the IFI, Aldeem was also a former vice chairperson of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines.
“He is a Christian activist. He is not a terrorist,” Bishop Yañez said.
Their mother Kathleen said she was hard-broken to see her youngest son in handcuffs and sleeping on the cold concrete floor of Camp Evangelsta in Patag, Cagayan de Oro City.
But she added that her spirit is lifted with the outpouring of support of the IFI and the many organizations and individuals who know the real Aldeem.
“I am happy to know there are so many who love my most kind son. This child of mine is spending his whole life serving the church and the poor. The only time he is away is the time he is with the poorest who are driven away from their homes and are victims of injustices,” she said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/aldeem-1.jpg8331448Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-04-12 17:04:172022-04-13 10:25:22IFI Supreme Bishop: Church worker’s arrest ‘grave abuse’ of police-military power
A farmer leader and party list nominee has been arrested in Nueva Vizcaya Friday night, a regional organization announced in an urgent alert.
Anakpawis Party 4th nominee and Cagayan Valley coordinator Isabelo Adviento was arrested while having dinner at fast food chain Jollibee’s Bayombong Branch at 8PM on April 8, Taripnong Cagayan Valley said.
The group did not identify who arrested Adviento.
A repeated victim of red-tagging, Adviento’s house was raided by the Philippine National Police in Baggao, Cagayan on December 2, 2020 in a failed attempt to arrest the peasant leader.
Adviento is also the chairperson of Danggayan iti Mannalon iti Cagayan Valley, the local chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP).
He was charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, the usual allegation against activists and critics of the Rodrigo Duterte government.
Adviento’s organizations said the police planted guns and explosives in his house in December 2020 and pointed out that no search or arrest warrant was presented during the raid.
The peasant leader was then leading a relief mission for survivors of Typhoon Ulysses elsewhere in the region at the time of the raid.
In a statement following the incident, Adviento asked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Department of Justice to “investigate and junk the trumped-up charges filed against innocent farmers” like himself.
“We also ask the help of the CHR, church institutions, and local officials to assist those who are being persecuted,” he added.
The KMP blamed the government’s anti-insurgency group National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for the “relentless persecution” of its regional leader.
“For several years now, Adviento has been subjected to non-stop intimidation by state forces. The harassment against him and other Cagayan Valley-based activists and peasant leaders intensified under the Duterte administration,” KMP chairperson Danilo Ramos said.
Adviento himself denied NTF-ELCAC’s allegations that he is a terrorist.
“I am not a terrorist because terrorists hurt, kill, oppress, threaten, steal from people, and are criminals. I have not done these things or broke the law,” he said in November 2021,
He also denied being a recruiter for the New People’s Army, saying the tarpaulins bearing his face and holding a gun were manipulated images.
The peasant leader said all he did was help farmers campaign to lower the interest, demand production assistance during calamities, and call for higher farm gate prices for their products. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/isabelo.jpeg360820Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-04-09 08:15:202022-04-09 08:56:15Anakpawis nominee arrested in Nueva Vizcaya
The family of arrested activist Esteban Manuel Jr. has asked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to help look for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant reportedly arrested last February 16.
The elderly peace worker is now believed missing as his family could not locate his real location 16 days after his reported arrest in Samar 17 days ago.
“[H]is family is seeking the help of the [CHR] and human rights organizations to locate him with the ‘utmost urgency’ while appealing to his captors to ‘keep him safe and alive,’” political prisoner support organization Kapatid said in an alert.
Manuel’s son Albert wrote to the CHR seeking help to find his father and to know if he is receiving proper care.
“My father is 73 years old and of fragile health. He has hypertension and needs medicines. But we have not received replies to our queries to locate him,” Albert wrote.
“We appeal to his captors to keep him safe and alive,” Albert added.
Kapatid said there have been conflicting press releases from the military and police on the reported arrest of the elder Manuel in Villareal town, Samar.
Kapatid said the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police has called Manuel under different names when they reported the arrest.
The military and the police also could not agree on the number of firearms allegedly seized from Manuel.
Kapatid said the government’s information immediately raised concerns about the possibility of the firearms being “planted” it said is a well-established method by the police and military to keep activists in indefinite detention.
Albert said they heard conflicting information that his father was either detained in a military camp in Calbiga or at the police station in Villareal town.
Kapatid also said they are also reaching out to the International Committee of the Red Cross to help ensure humanitarian protection and assistance for the elder Manuel in line with its mission to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and promote respect for international law.
Kapatid said Esteban was a native of Laoag, Ilocos Norte whose father, Esteban Manuel Sr., was a veteran of the infamous Bataan Death March in World War II.
A birght student, Esteban graduated valedictorian from the Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo High School in Quezon City.
He went on to study engineering at the University of the Philippines where he joined the Kabataang Makabayan (KM).
Esteban went underground when the dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972 and KM became an underground organization.
Esteban’s father was arrested when the military came looking for him and his brother Napoleon it believed also became activist.
Manuel Sr. was detained for over 50 days without any charges. He was posthumously awarded a human rights compensation claim. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
‘Heart-rending,’ Society of Filipino Film Reviewers says
Kodao Productions’ video documentary on the burial of infant River Emmanuel Nasino, three month old daughter of political prisoner Reina Mae Nasino, won Best Short Documentary honors at the 2nd Pinoy Rebyu Awards by the Society of Filipino Film Reviewers (SFFR).
“For exposing who the real terrorizers are and their bottomless pit of injustice and indecency to deny the human rights of those they supposedly serve, the 2nd Pinoy Rebyu Awards for Best Documentary Short Film goes to RIVER OF TEARS AND RAGE,” the society’s announcement on Monday, February 28, said.
“Heart-rending,” SFFR further said of the film.
River of Tears and Rage was a film culled from Kodao Productions’ coverage of the infant’s wake and Facebook Live coverage of River Emmanuel’s burial on October 2020 when jail authorities ran away with the cadaver.
“Amid a raging coronavirus pandemic, a dead three month-old infant became a symbol of political repression by a regime denounced worldwide for its crimes against the people,” Kodao said during the film’s launch on October 2021, the first anniversary of the incident.
The film was an official selection in last year’s Cine Maralita Film Festival and was shown in special screenings in the United States and Canada.
The film was directed and edited by Maricon Montajes, herself a former political prisoner.
Starting out as Pinoy Rebyu in 2011 that aggregated reviews of local films and coming up with annual polls of the best Filipino films, the SFFR was created in 2021 to promote film education, preservation, criticism, and exhibition of Philippine cinema.
The other 2nd Pinoy Rebyu Awards winners are:
Best Film: Kun Maupay Man It Panahon
Best Director: Erik Matti (On the Job: The Missing 8)
Best Lead Performance: John Arcilla (On the Job: The Missing 8)
Best Supporting Performance: Jay Glorioso (Rabid)
Best Screenplay: Erik Matti and Michiko Yamamoto (On the Job: The Missing 8)
Best Ensemble Performance: On the Job: The Missing 8
Best Film Editing: Benjo Ferrer (Kun Maupay Man It Panahon)
Best Cinematography: Teck Shang Lim (Kun Maupay Man It Panahon)
Best Production Design: Whammy Alcazaren (Kun Maupay Man It Panahon)
Best Film Score: Andrew Florentino (Kun Maupay Man It Panahon)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/river2.png5741366Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-03-01 10:40:242022-03-01 10:41:34Kodao’s ‘River of Tears and Rage’ wins as Best Documentary Short Film
The Save Our Schools (SOS) Network revealed more details in the death of two volunteer teachers, a community health worker and their two drivers last week in what human rights groups call the New Bataan Massacre.
SOS said volunteer teachers Chad Booc and Gelejurain Ngujo II, volunteer health worker Elgyn Balonga and their two still unidentified drivers were victims of another massacre of Lumad and their defenders by the military.
The group reported the victims were on their way back to Davao City after a community visit and research work when waylaid by the military.
SOS said the last time anyone has heard from the victims was about 9:30 in the evening of Wednesday, February 23 when Balonga requested her family to come fetch them once they are back in Davao City.
In a public announcement last Friday, the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army said that the five were New People’s Army rebels that engaged them in a 15-minute firefight Thursday, February 24.
The Philippine News Agency report on the military’s announcement did not mention a time of incident.
The SOS however said residents told them that no firefight happened last Thursday, an information confirmed by the Communist Party of the Philippines that said the NPA unit in the area denied such occurrence.
“We strongly assert that the victims were community volunteers and civilians from varying backgrounds, and their murder must merit the strongest condemnation,” SOS said.
Who were they?
Booc’s life as an activist and volunteer teacher in a Lumad school was well-documented in media articles and interviews.
His prominence earned for him red-tagging attacks by government officials and institutions who alleged he was an indoctrinator and recruiter of young Lumad to join the NPA.
He was from a middle class background and a University of the Philippines cum laude graduate with a degree in computer science.
“He turned down a career and life of comfort and became a volunteer teacher. In 2016, he volunteered to be a teacher for ALCADEV in Surigao del Sur,” SOS said.
The Bakwit School is the roving program for Lumad students fleeing from the militarization of their communities and the forcible closure of their schools. It had been held in Davao City, Cebu City and Metro Manila and hosted by education institutions, churches and the Commission on Human Rights.
In 2021, Booc was one of the petitioners against the government’s controversial Anti-Terror Law before the Supreme Court.
Like Booc, Nguho was a college graduate who had earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education majoring in English from the Liceo de Davao – Briz Campus in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.
“He came from a humble family of farmers and was known for being patient and soft-spoken,” SOS said of the second victim.
Immediately after graduating, Nguho became a teacher at the Community Technical College of Southeastern Mindanao (CTCSM).
After a year, he decided to become a volunteer teacher for the Bakwit School in Manila in 2018, and then in Cebu in 2019 and 2020.
“Like Chad, he was also a recipient of threats and intimidation from state forces for his work as a volunteer Lumad school teacher,” SOS said.
Balonga meanwhile was a community health worker who served at the Lumad sanctuary at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines compound in Davao City from 2013 to 2018.
Balonga facilitated internships by medical students at the sanctuary, SOS.
“Elgyn was active in numerous medical missions in remote areas such as Talaingod and Kapalong, Davao del Norte. She lived a life of service for the Lumad, farmers, and workers,” the group added.
“Throughout their years of service, Chad, Jurain, and Elgyn had been subjected to threats, harassment, intimidation, including death threats, red-tagging and terror-tagging, and surveillance. It is then even more deplorable that the people who take up the initiative to serve in far-flung communities, where the Duterte government cares little to address the needs of its residents, are targeted and killed,” SOS said.
Widespread condemnation
Human rights and activists groups held a condemnation rally at the Commission on Human Rights’ Jose W. Diokno Park in Quezon City last Saturday to condemn the killing of the victims.
SOS Cebu’s indignation rally on the killing of volunteer teachers, a health worker and their two drivers. (SOS Network Cebu photo)
The Cebu chapter of the SOS Network led a similar condemnation rally in the city on Sunday, February 27.
SOS Cebu spokesperson Meg Lim said the New Bataan 5 Massacre was not the first spate of killings of the Lumad and their advocates.
“Through the years, there had been the Lianga Massacre, the Pangantukan Massacre, the brutal killings of Obello Bay-ao and now, the deaths of 5 unarmed civilians, volunteer teachers and valuable members of the Lumad community,” Lim said.
“The AFP is so (bent) to silence the Lumad that it has repeatedly used the same old narrative of an ‘encounter’ to legitimize its brutal killing of innocent civilians in the mere act of service to their communities,” Lim added.
The Cebu rally was attended by Booc’s family, the group reported.
Nikki, Chad’s younger sister, demanded justice for her brother and the other victims’ deaths through a fair, impartial, and thorough investigation of the incident.
The SOS revealed the families have yet to retrieve the victims’ remains, anticipating possible harassment and intimidation from the military.
“We are calling on all IP rights advocates, friends of the victims, the media, and every Filipino to join us and the families of the victims’ as we ensure that they are brought home,” the group said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/sos-cebu-2.jpg510960Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-02-28 12:23:072022-02-28 12:32:00SOS: New Bataan Massacre victims waylaid on Wednesday night, not Thursday as military claims
(Hinggil sa ‘No tears for terrorists’ ni Dr. Lorraine T. Badoy)
Ni Marlou Abaja
Walang balon ng awa
Walang batis ng malasakit at hinagpis
Walang bukal ng buhay ang katawan
Ng demonyong nagbabalatkayong tao
Walang aagos na luha ng dalamhati
Walang luha ang demonyo
Tinuyo ng apoy ang bawat patak
Bagkus ay pagdiwang sa itim niyang budhi ang nangingibabaw
Sa pagpanaw ng pinaslang na bayani
Walang luha ang demonyo
Kundi galak na hindi makatao.
3. Titser Chad
Ni Raymund B. Villanueva
Pauwi pa lamang mula sa rali–
nag-kober at sumali–
nang malaman ang masamang balita
mula sa lalawigan ng ginto’t dugo
Ayaw munang maniwala
Bakit ba? Napakasama
nakakapanghina
Ngunit possible, bakit hindi?
Madalas talagang maging martir
ang mga dati nang bayani
Adya yata, sa UP ako dumaan pag-uwi
(Bilin ng asawa’y bumili ng lupa sa maghahalaman
sa C5.) Pagliko kanina sa University Avenue
lumingon sa kanan at tinanaw hanggang dulo
ang istatwang dipa’t tingala.
Sa ngayong naluluhang mata
dahil sa iyo, Titser Chad,
si Oble’y tumangkad pa yata.
–3:01 n.h.
25 Pebrero 2022
Lungsod Quezon
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/chad2.jpg12801280Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-02-27 07:38:132022-02-27 10:04:42Tatlong tula para kay Chad Booc
It was a massacre that killed a celebrated volunteer teacher and four others in Davao de Oro last Thursday, an indigenous peoples’ organization said.
The Save Our Schools (SOS) Network said the February 24 incident that resulted in the death of University of the Philippines (UP) cum laude graduate Chad Booc, fellow volunteer teacher Gelejurain Ngujo II and three others was “in fact a massacre of civilians.”
In confirming the death of one of its two volunteer teachers, the SOS said Barangay Andap, New Bataan residents confirmed to them that no clash happened between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) at the reported time of the incident.
“And in its attempt to justify these gruesome killings, the armed forces once again twist the truth to play into their narrative as they have done many times before,” SOS said.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) echoed the group’s report, saying the AFP’s “encounter” claim is an outright lie.
“There was no encounter in New Bataan, Davao de Oro, yesterday (Thursday), where the AFP claims it killed activist Chad Booc and four others. This was confirmed to us by the local NPA unit in the area,” CPP information officer Marco Valbuena tweeted.
“Indeed, the AFP’s ‘killed in an encounter’ story line has repeatedly been used in the past to cover up the cold-blooded murder of civilians or unarmed people. We urge their family and friends to uncover the facts surrounding their deaths and demand justice for their murders,” Valbuena added.
The 1001st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army (PA) claimed it engaged alleged NPA rebels in a 15-minute gunfight that resulted in the death of Booc, Nguho, an alias Daday and two unidentified others.
PA 10th Infantry Division public affairs office chief Captain Mark Anthony S. Tito further claimed government soldiers recovered one M653 rifle, one caliber .45 pistol, one hand grenade, one anti-personnel mine, assorted food supplies, and personal belongings from the victims.
The AFP also publicly released photos of the victims laying bloodied and dead on the ground, a move condemned by the SOS.
“To add insult to injury, the 1001st Infantry Brigade of the AFP has paraded the bodies of the deceased as war trophies. Even to the extent of planting guns and ammunition on the bodies to make it out as if they were combatants who shot at the AFP,” the group said.
“Photos of the deceased are supposed to be taken for the sole purpose of documentation, not as trophies released and paraded without the consent of the families… a testament to the AFP’s disrespect and non-adherence to the CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law),” SOS added, referring to the document signed by the Manila government with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in 1998.
Booc last figured in the news in 2021 when he was arrested in Cebu City after being accused by the military of kidnapping Lumad children and indoctrinating them to take up arms against the Philippine government.
‘Teacher Chad’ forging one of his countless rivers and streams on the way to a Lumad community. (Photo from Chad’s FB account)
Booc however is celebrated in various articles as well as in campaigns for his release as a selfless people’s scholar who chose to dedicate his life to the service of indigenous peoples’ communities.
A cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines with a degree in computer science, Booc worked full time as a volunteer teacher for Lumad schools in Mindanao. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/chad.jpg648972Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-02-26 12:01:392022-02-26 12:20:44‘Chad Booc and 4 others were massacred’ – Save Our Schools Network
Has Camp Aguinaldo become ungrateful of People Power? Do its current occupants, once desperate for the people’s protection, think nothing of injuring those who once protected them from a dictator’s tanks and guns?
As hundreds of people commemorated the 36th anniversary of the People Power uprising with a rally at the monument at the corner of EDSA and White Plains Avenue on Friday morning, they were pelted with stones and plastic bottles from inside the military camp.
“Mga kababayan, bago po ako magsimula, nais ko pong ibalita sa inyo na kanina pa hong may lumilipad ng bato at mga bote mula sa loob ng Camp Aguinaldo papunta po rito sa ating hanay,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. announced at the start of his speech towards the end of the rally. (Compatriots, before I start, let me announce that stones and bottles flew towards us from inside Camp Aguinaldo.)
Reyes said that the police failed to let the pelting stop, adding that a Polytechnic University of the Philippines employee was hit on the head by a stone.
“Nasan po yung mga pulis? Nasan yung mga pulis? Bakit hindi nyo po maprotektahan yung mga tao laban doon sa mga nambabato [mula] sa loob ng Camp Aguinaldo?” Reyes asked. (Where is the police? Where is the police? Why can’t you protect the people from those throwing from inside Camp Aguinaldo?”
Victim Vilma S. Tuno being attended by a paramedic after being hit by a stone from inside Camp Aguinaldo. (Kapatid photo)
The victim, Vilma S. Tuno said she was seated near the camp’s wall along White Plains Avenue and intently listening to the program when hit by a stone.
“Tumama sa ulo ko. Ang laki ng maga at sobrang sakit kaya na-obliga ako pumunta sa emergency room,” she told Kodao. (The stone hit my head. The swelling was huge and it was very painful. I was forced to go to the emergency room.)
Tuno was rushed to the V.R. Potenciano Hospital at EDSA-Mandaluyong where she was advised to undergo a CT Scan to check for possible effects to her previous brain surgery for epilepsy,” human rights group Kapatid said.
“This is to strongly inform the Camp Aguinaldo officials that the stone-throwing incident from inside your wall has caused physical injury. Several other rally participants were also directly hit by stones, sticks and plastic bottles,” Kapatid added in its statement.
“This kind of incident must not go unpunished. Kapatid condemns this despicable act against us who are marking #EDSA36 near the People Power Monument. We call on Camp Aguinaldo officials to investigate this incident and put a stop to all such acts.
This reporter was also hit on his torso while another stone bounced off the pavement and hit his thigh.
Journalist Lito Ocampo also complained that he was almost hit by an empty soda bottle thrown from inside the camp.
Camp Aguinaldo is the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and where the Department of National Defense is located.
It was where then defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile and his cohorts holed up when they turned against then President Ferdinand Marcos.
Reyes bewailed that during the uprising, the people went to EDSA to protect the people from inside the camp from an impending full-scale military attack ordered by Marcos.
“Noong EDSA, iyong mga tao, pumunta rito sa EDSA para po protektahan yung mga nasa loob ng Camp Aguinaldo. Ngayon po, yung mga tao, nagtitipon dito sa EDSA, binabato ng mga naroroon sa loob ng Camp Aguinaldo,” Reyes complained. (During the uprising, the people went to EDSA to protect those inside Camp Aguinaldo. Now that the people commemorate the uprising, stones are being thrown at us from inside the camp.)
The police, hundreds of them, did not stir from under their tents and under the trees, even after hearing the complaint. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/pinoy.jpg7691080Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2022-02-25 17:01:232022-02-27 12:16:08Stone-throwing from inside Camp Aguinaldo mars EDSA uprising commemoration
