of the Philippines the criminal justice system is - Article 2

professors at the Eastern Samar State University—including
Catayong—leaders of progressive political parties, a policeman
and a local media man.
The Samar-Leyte Anti-Communist Movement is alleged to be
a front of the Civil Relations Service of the armed forces in the
area. Its members had reportedly previously conducted joint anticommunists
rallies and other activities there.
Dr. Catayong chaired the Eastern Samar branch of human
rights group Karapatan since 2001.
Ronald Ocson & others:
Reign of terror by local landlord and police
On 30 October 2006, Ronald Ocson (41), president of the Asao
Farmers and Residents Association (Afra), was sitting at the
entrance of his father’s house around 6pm with his 14-year-old
daughter Rowena Joy, who was inside, when a gunman, later
identified as Roberto “Kasey” Jordan allegedly approached and
shouted, “Why? Is this your land?” After that he shot Ocson, hitting
him in his leg. He was taken to the Jesus Colmenares Hospital
in Malbog, Balasan for treatment.
The Balasan police investigation concluded that Jordan was
drunk when he shot Ocson using a .357-calibre handgun, having
spent the day drinking with a person named “Kano” and Andres
Bedro at his rice fields. The Bedros are influential landlords
with whom the victim and his organisation had a conflict over
land. Andres and his wife Susan Bedro, former vice-mayor of
Balasan, had filed a civil case to restrain 21 Afra members from
claiming land that they had been awarded under the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. Portions of Lot C, Psd-
74005 were redistributed to members of Afra, most of them
tenants of the Bedros, on 23 June 2003 by the Deparment of
Agrarian Reform Regional Director Alexis Arsenal.
The local court ruled in favor of the Bedro’s petition for land
ownership. But under the law, any land reform dispute should be
tried before a special agrarian court, so the jurisdiction of the
court and its verdict was brought into question and the agrarian
reform beneficiaries appealed their case.
The Bedros had then allegedly resorted to violence to get the
court order enforced, although it was not final and executable.
The villagers have all since then experienced harassment and
threats to their lives. Most recently, around 5:30am on October
11 Andres Bedro and his armed men on a cargo truck, a pickup
and a motorcycle raided the Afra members’ village in Sitio Asao,
Barangay Lawis, Balasan, destroying crops and property. Even
coconut palms were cut down. They likewise harassed and
threatened the villagers who were present. One of them, Jovita
Baria, was gathering dried coconut leaves when they came. She
was beaten by one of the men when she tried to block them, and
Bedro allegedly aimed his .45-calibre pistol at her and the other
19
VICTIMS:
1. Ronald Ocson (attempted
killing)
2. Hernan Baria (killed)
3. Romeo Catalan
(wounded)
4. Jovita Baria (threatened)
5. Johnny Catalan
(threatened)
INCIDENT: Killing; attempted
killing; intimidation
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS:
Roberto “Kasey” Jordan,
landlord Andres Bedro and
hired gunmen
DATE: 30 October 2006 and
prior dates
AHRC UA-350-2006
UP-213-2006
article 2 • February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1 39