of the Philippines the criminal justice system is - Article 2

On December 11 the presidentially-appointed Melo
Commission investigated the killing of the Vigos and recorded
the following in its January 2007 report (pages 34–36):
The spouses George and Maricel Vigo were working for People’s
Kauyahan Foundation, Inc. - a United Nations Development Programme
(“UNDP”) project partner for the upliftment of internally displaced
persons, including peasant farmers. George Vigo likewise had a local
AM radio show concerning agrarian reform issues. The spouses Vigo
were gunned down in Singao, Kidapawan City, Cotobato by unidentified
men on June 19, 2006.
Mr. Venancio Bafilar, a friend of the spouses Vigo testified that before he
was gunned down, George Vigo confided to Mr. Bafilar that he had been
receiving death threats, and that he was being suspected of authoring,
making or otherwise being behind the production of a video recording
contained in a certain compact disc. This video recording was of a certain
“bloodless” raid conducted by NPA rebels upon the municipal hall and
PNP Station of Magpet, Cotobato.
Bafilar mentioned that the spouses Vigo were political supporters of
Congresswoman Emmylou Taliño-Santos and her faction, including
Angelita Pelonio, who was running for mayor of Magpet against
incumbent Efren Piñol. In fact, Maricel Vigo was working in the office of
Congresswoman Taliño-Santos. The Taliños are the political enemies of
the Piñol faction, which includes Cotobato Governor Emmanuel F. Piñol.
Essentially, Bafilar’s testimony insinuates that the murder of the spouses
Vigo was political in motivation, and that the parties responsible come
from the camp of the Piñols.
The spouses Vigo were also in contact with a certain Ka Benjie, a suspected
NPA member, whom George Vigo interviewed a number of times in his
radio show. The Vigos were also supposedly eyewitnesses when Ka
Benjie was summarily executed by the military.
Fr. Peter Geremia, an American priest working for the Tribal Filipino
Program of the Diocese of Kidapawan, testified on his knowledge about
the deaths of the spouses Vigo. He mentioned that prior to and after the
death of the Vigos, he was subjected to surveillance by unidentified
armed men. George Vigo also confided to Fr. Geremia that a military
asset warned him (George Vigo) that he was in the “listahan” of the
military.
After the killing of the Vigos, Fr. Geremia also received written death
threats that the killing of the Vigos was a message to him and the Tribal
Filipino Program that they would be next. The written threat more or
less stated that “whoever supports the NPA, death is what they deserve.”
In one incident in Columbio, Cotobato, Fr. Geremia was being followed
by some men, one of whom suddenly drew his gun. Upon seeing the
gun, Fr. Geremia’s companions rushed him inside a store and later asked
for help from the house of Columbio Mayor Bermudez. Mayor Bermudez,
however, stated that there was nothing he could do because, he said, that
the gunmen were military.
Fr. Geremia also testified that in a media presentation by Col. John Bucu
of the 40th IB Intelligence Unit, he (Fr. Geremia) was identified as a
supporter of the NPA – a fact which Fr. Geremia strongly denies. In fact,
Fr. Geremia mentions that after confronting Col. Bucu and clarifying
that he was not an NPA supporter, the latter apologized for the false
information they received.
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article 2 • February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1