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74 VICTIM: Abelardo Ladera INCIDENT: Killing ALLEGED PERPETRATORS: Unidentified military personnel DATE: 4 March 2005 AHRC UA-034-2005 PHOTO: Stop the killings Abelardo Ladera: Another victim of the Hacienda Luisita Abelardo R. Ladera (43) was the City Councilor of Tarlac, Luzon and a provincial chapter leader of the Bayan Muna party who was shot dead by unidentified attackers at around 1pm on 4 March 2005 while on his way home along the McArthur Highway in Barangay Paraiso, Tarlac City. He was hit by a bullet in his upper left chest which pierced his heart. His driver Edwin Arocena took him to hospital, but Ladera was declared dead on arrival. The identity of his attackers remains unknown. However, it is alleged that the Northern Luzon Command (NolCom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines had a hand in his killing after he was falsely branded as a contact person of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army in Hacienda Luisita by NolCom agents during a security briefing at NolCom headquarters, Camp Aquino, Tarlac on 22 January 2005. He was again labelled as a communist at a NolCom briefing to the Association of Barangay Captains in Tarlac City. Ladera had been mediating between farm workers and the Cojuanco family, owner of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac, to settle a land dispute before and after the violent dispersal of the Hacienda Luisita workers on 16 November 2004 that left seven persons dead. However there was no positive response from the Cojuanco family. Ladera, the provincial leader of Bayan Muna, was very vocal in condemning the military and police actions against the farm workers, and may have been killed for this reason, among others. In July 2006 the Hong Kong Mission for Human Rights & Peace in the Philippines visited Hacienda Luisita and recorded the following in its report: The fact-finding mission travelled to Hacienda Luisita on July 26th, 2006 and met with victims’ relatives and local officials. The situation in Hacienda Luisita continues to be problematic to date, but was, in 2004, the scene of one of the most infamous cases of killings in the Philippines. On 6 November 2004, at around 12pm, some 5000 mill and farm workers from the Cantral Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union (CATLU) and United Luisita Worker’s Union (ULWU) held a protest in front of the gate of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac sugarcane plantation. The workers are ‘co-owners’ of the 4915.75 hectares of land inside the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) that are classified as agricultural land. As farm-worker-beneficiaries and part of the Stock Distribution Option (SDO) scheme, they are entitled to 33.296 per cent of the SDO’s outstanding capital stock, under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. The workers protested against the measures imposed on them, which hampered their livelihood. They protested about the massive land-use conversion in the hacienda, the implementation of the “voluntary early retirement program” in 2000 by HLI and the continued reductions of working days. These measures had resulted in the laying-off of more than 1000 farm workers since 1989. 80 article 2 • February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1
On October 1, 2004, 327 farm-workers, including nine officers of ULWU, were sacked by the HLI management. The efforts by the CATLU to collectively bargain with the management regarding their demands for wage increases and benefits drew to a stand still. These issues prompted the protesters to stage a picket in front of the gate of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac, which started on 6 November 2005. As the tension grew, several attempts were made by the police and the military to disperse the protesters, but these failed. The protesters stood their ground until a violent confrontation between protesters and the military and police forces broke out on 16 November 2004. Seven people were killed and ten people were severely injured, while some 200 other protesters required hospitalisation. To date, the investigations into these killings have not led to any conclusive results or any perpetrators being identified or prosecuted, despite there being a large number of persons who witnessed the attacks. [Hong Kong Mission for Human Rights & Peace in the Philippines, “Extrajudicial killings & human rights abuses in the Philippines”, article 2, vol. 5, no. 5, October 2006, p. 17] Ricardo Uy: War of words with army ends with bullets in the back On 18 November 2005 at 11am Ricardo Uy (57), chairperson of the Bayan Muna party in Sorsogon City, was shot dead inside his Soledad Corral Uy Ricemill in Barangay Basud. Uy’s assistant heard gunshots ring out and when he ran inside he saw a gunman in sunglasses and wearing a hat had shot Uy in the back. The gunman aimed at the assistant, but his gun was empty. He calmly walked to a motorcycle parked close to the rice mill and left. At the time of his death, Uy was the radio anchor of a morning program at dzRS Sorsogon radio. He was a hard-hitting critic of the militarisation of the towns of Sorsogon and other policies of the government that he considered anti-poor. Since 2004, the military had been vilifying Uy as a communist supporter and recruiter of the New People’s Army in their own radio programmes on dzMS. Ricardo Ramos: Yet another victim of Hacienda Luisita On 25 October 2005 at around 3pm Ricardo Ramos arrived at a bamboo hut about 50 metres from his house, with his wife and six companions. Two soldiers attached to the 7th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, later arrived nearby. The two, Sgt. Castillo and Joshua de la Cruz were known to the villagers because they often conducted foot patrols in the area. They asked Jorge Gatus, a village security volunteer, whether they could speak with Ramos, who was president of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union and one of the leaders of the Hacienda Luisita workers, who in November 2004 had been attacked by the police and military (see below). Gatus said that Ramos was resting. The soldiers then left. 75 VICTIM: Ricardo Uy INCIDENT: Killing ALLEGED PERPETRATOR: Unidentified gunman DATE: 18 November 2005 AHRC UP-143-2005 76 VICTIM: Ricardo Ramos INCIDENT: Killing ALLEGED PERPETRATORS: Unidentified gunman DATE: 25 October 2005 AHRC UP-143-2005 article 2 • February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1 81
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Vol. 6, No. 1 February 2007 ISSN 18
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Contents SPECIAL REPORT: THE CRIMIN
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Burma. But where are these laws fou
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The ALRC is acutely aware that thes
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The criminal justice system of the
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When Alberto Yadan (story 12) was m
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A Statement by the Asian Human Righ
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the policemen who killed Baria afte
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In his 21 February 2007 comments on
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sufficiently adept at creating lawl
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In his letter, Chief Superintendent
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cannot excuse themselves of their f
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Page 31 and 32: Rotten to the core: Unaddressed kil
Page 33 and 34: Prof. Jose Ma Cui: Shot dead in cla
Page 35 and 36: Later, the village chief, Carlito C
Page 37 and 38: Jesus Servida: Killed for the union
Page 39 and 40: Roderick Aspili: Shot dead watching
Page 41 and 42: professors at the Eastern Samar Sta
Page 43 and 44: a fresh investigation for this purp
Page 45 and 46: Badilla, Palawan.... jurisdiction,
Page 47 and 48: Bishop Ramento also openly opposed
Page 49 and 50: Napoleon Bautista: Abducted, tortur
Page 51 and 52: The perpetrators questioned Pastor
Page 53 and 54: Eladio Dasi-an: Gunned down on way
Page 55 and 56: However, Fr. Geremia was informed t
Page 57 and 58: Noel Capulong: Shot and killed afte
Page 59 and 60: Jose Doton: Tailed and shot on moto
Page 61 and 62: one of the gunmen came close to the
Page 63 and 64: Enrico had just finished a meeting
Page 65 and 66: After several questions, the police
Page 67 and 68: Elpidio de la Victoria: No empty th
Page 69 and 70: Amante hid behind a tree some 70 me
Page 71 and 72: Melanio Evangelista: Murdered in be
Page 73 and 74: found surrounding the house. That e
Page 75 and 76: Jose Manegdeg: Same job, new victim
Page 77 and 78: the spot. Those who were seriously
Page 79 and 80: Diosdado Fortuna: “Is there anybo
Page 81: Dacut and a companion were on their
Page 85 and 86: The AHRC highlighted the case in a
Page 87 and 88: The couple had left Padre Burgos at
Page 89 and 90: It has also been learned that altho
Page 91 and 92: with rifles and the others had .45-
Page 93 and 94: They warned that they would be shot
Page 95 and 96: of the 7th Infantry Division, gave
Page 97 and 98: unnecessarily delayed. Like other l
Page 99 and 100: wore civilian clothes. The men’s
Page 101 and 102: companion, Rahim, after Ed’l Fit
Page 103 and 104: that the remaining equipment of the
Page 105 and 106: esidents about the noise from the c
Page 107 and 108: following us?” He replied, “Ban
Page 109 and 110: The victims, represented by six law
Page 111 and 112: The absence of a law on torture mea
Page 113 and 114: to the detachment, where he was fur
Page 115 and 116: While it is acknowledged that there
Page 117 and 118: Fr. Rolando de Leon: Church service
Page 119 and 120: suggestions from the victims’ fam
Page 121 and 122: police who initially conducted the
Page 123 and 124: While the constitution guarantees t
Page 125 and 126: Take the case of 11 persons, two of
Page 127 and 128: The Philippines is a signatory to t
Page 129 and 130: 3. The strengthening of agencies fo
Page 131 and 132: permit outside scrutiny, and a very
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conviction before one can conclude
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(c) The need to restore accountabil
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Appendix II: The Melo Commission Re
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More importantly, it is also undisp
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5. TFU did not investigate Gen. Pal
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5. Reaction to Gen. Palparan’s st
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... 21. Summary/Notable Matters: a.
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My order to my soldiers is that, if
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No witness came forward to testify
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It being well-nigh obvious that som
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(b) With respect to superior and su
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Likewise, the utterance of statemen
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towards the greater ideals of democ
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There should be no requirement that
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Even assuming that these victims an
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esponding to ensure their protectio
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provided in all cases where require
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homicide against Buisan. We were in
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uniformed policemen, reportedly fro
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for fear of the lives due to contin
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members of the armed forces, police
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For the time being we must withhold
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The activists and leaders facing th
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7. The national information agency
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8. Retract statement justifying kil
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5. Questionable evidence The police
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knowledge or information on the com
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(f) he has not at any time been con
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Appendix V: Online Petition— Stop
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article 2 • February 2007 Vol. 6,
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The State party should ensure that
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Other special reports published in
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