UPDATE(Philippines): More activists and widows helping victims facing threats in separate incidents

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed of continuing threats made on human rights activists and widows of activists who are helping victims. On November 2, activist Olivia Bernardo was followed and photographed by an unknown person while her colleague Mary Guy Portajada started receiving threatening messages on her mobile. In another incident the widows of murdered activists, Hilda Orpilla and Natividad Battad, have also been threatened by members of the paramilitary following their husbands’ murder early this year.

CASE DETAILS: (Based on the information received from the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights (Karapatan))

CASE 1:
On November 2, between 4:45pm to 5pm, Olivia Bernardo was riding in a passenger utility jeepney on her way home. The jeepney she was riding in had stopped on traffic at the corner of East Avenue and V. Luna Street in Quezon City, Metro Manila. While seated beside the driver, a man riding in a motorcycle which had no license plate number, stopped close to her. His presence there had caught Olivia’s attention when he angrily yelled at her: “Masyado kang nakikialam!” (You’re meddling too much!).

Shortly, the man pulled his camera out and took a photograph of her before leaving towards the direction of Epifano De Los Santos (EDSA) Avenue.

Olivia heads the Services Desk of Karapatan.  Her desk is responsible for organizing Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) and Fact Finding Missions (FFMs) on cases involving enforced disappearances. Visiting headquarters and camps of security forces in each case of disappearances reported to them is also part of her routine work. She is also involved in taking legal action and remedies for victims of human rights violations, particularly in filing petitions for writ of habeas corpus and amparo. For further discussion regarding the writ of amparo please read: AHRC-AS-236-2007; AHRC-PL-047-2007.

She is also involved in coordinating with other institutions and organizations that would provide psychosocial assistance and sanctuaries to families and relatives of victims of enforced disappearances and witnesses.  Her desk is also in charge in looking after the welfare of the political prisoners and the progress of their cases. They also respond to other welfare needs of victims of human rights violations.

In another incident, it was around 7:10pm on the same day when Mary Guy Portajada had received an SMS message containing threats to her life from a mobile phone number +63 9168397804. The message, written in Tagalog was read: “HANAPIN NINYO SA IMPIYERNO ANG MGA KALULUWANG HINAHANAP HUWAG NA KAYO MAGPAPOGI SA MEDIA KAW NA ANG SUSUNOD.” (Search the souls you’re looking for in hell. Quit preening before the media you’re next)

The AHRC dialed the phone number which sent a threatening message but it could no longer be contacted.

Earlier that day, at around 10am, Olivia and Mary Guy had led the annual activity of the Desaparecidos which is scheduled every November 2 at the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran, Paranaque City. The purpose of the activity is to remember and pay tribute to victims of enforced disappearances

Mary Guy is the daughter of Armando Portajada, a labor leader who was also a victim of enforced disappearance who has not been seen since 31 July 1987. Desaparecidos is a member organization of Karapatan. It is composed of families and relatives of victims of enforced disappearances aimed at organizing and mobilizing the families and relatives in searching for the victims and to seek justice for them.

CASE 2:
Hilda Orpilla and Natividad Battad started receiving threats in April and May 2007 respectively following the murder of their husband.

Arthur and Dionisio, husbands of Hilda and Natividad respectively, have been taken for questioning at the camp of the 17th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army days before they were found dead. They were last seen alive on March 27 when Dionisio went to Arthur’s house asking the latter to accompany him to the soldier’s camp. The soldiers’ camp is located few meters away from Arthur’s house. Arthur’s presence was sought by Dionisio because he was also a village council member in their community.

Arthur and Dionisio have been subjected to questioning by elements of the soldiers over suspicions that one of them had replaced the position of Joey Javier, provincial chairman of the Alyansa iti Mannalon iti Cagayan (Kaguimungan) or Peasant Alliance of Cagayan, who had been murdered on 11 November 2006. Dionisio had been required to report to the soldier’s camp, at least twice a day, by a sergeant Orpilla, who had been questioning him.

From the time they were last seen the two have failed to return home with their families. Arthur and Dionisio’s corpses were later found mutilated on March 28 and April 4 respectively. The gravity of injuries their bodies had sustained indicates that they have been made to suffer and brutally tortured before they were killed. Those responsible for their murder have so far never been identified nor prosecuted.

Following the burial of Arthur on April 12, Hilda reported that every time she goes out of their house she noticed that her neighbours, particularly Joey Domingo, Lorenzo Ramos (a.k.a. Kabug) and Juling Domingo, have started conducting surveillance on her. The three men have been reportedly recruited by the same soldiers as their intelligence agents in the community.

The three men were often seen drinking with the soldiers attached to the 17th Infantry Battalion. On one occasion, Hilda had overheard one of them, Joey, as saying: “if these women would not stop, they will be next.” The threat Hilda had overheard left her in constant fear for her and her family’s safety, particularly since her husband was murdered not so long ago.

In another incident, sometime in May, Natividad has been informed that the same intelligence agents have also threatened to kill her entire family members if they would report who are responsible for the murder of her husband, Dionisio. The threats on her came as she and Hilda were processing documents seeking financial assistance that would be submitted to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). The said agents had been overheard to have said, “she (Natividad) would be next because she is an officer of Gabriela (a political party for women) and that she is recruiting members for the organization.”

Both Hilda and Natividad are also members of Kaguimungan. The group has been labeled by the government’s security forces as front organizations of the communist party and its illegal armed group. The continuing threats made on the widows have further aggravated their difficulty to support their families as they have to support them on their own following the death of their husbands.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Incidents of activists and families of murdered activist being threatened and subjected to surveillance have since been continuously taking place in recent times. This illustrates the gravity of the extent of insecurity these persons have been facing there. As we reported in our previous appeals, even though the concerned authorities, particularly the police, have been properly informed of each of these incidents no adequate actions have so far been taken by them to ensure their safety and welfare.

In August, we reported that soldiers were spying on and harassing student activists and campus journalists in two universities in Metro Manila. The soldiers covertly took photographs and video recordings of several student activists inside the campus as they hold their activities and demonstrations. The students’ groups were also vilified as “terrorist fronts” and “enemies of the state” by the soldiers. Please read for details: UA-264-2007

In September, the wife and children of murdered activist Jose Manegdeg III (a.k.a. Pepe) also failed to get any protection despite facing continuous threats on their lives. They have been forced to take security measures by themselves for nearly two years on. The murder complaint filed against a military captain who had killed Jose has also been dismissed by the prosecutor for lack of evidence and because the witness, who could have supposedly identify the perpetrator, withdrew his statement for fear of his life. Please read for details: UP-116-2007; UP-139-2007; AHRC-OL-029-2007.

You can also read the reflection of Jose’s wife, Florence, regarding the condition of her family have had to face: Shattered Lives

Also in the same month, four activists, two of them were reported by us to have already been threatened a year ago, were kept under surveillance by unidentified men in Angeles City. They had just finished a press conference to commemorate the declaration of Martial Law 35 years ago when they were followed by men who were acting suspiciously. It was the latest incident of threats and intimidation the victims had experienced. Please read for details: UP-137-2007

In October also, renewed surveillance was also carried out on a legal aid office for workers and labour organizations. Staff members of the said office once again noticed the suspicious movements of unknown persons immediately outside their office. It is the latest incident in which they have seen persons keeping them under observation. Please read for details: UA-309-2007

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the concerned authorities requesting them to immediately intervene to ensure the safety of these activists and widows facing threats. Appropriate legal action and sanction must be taken against the paramilitary men for threatening the widows. Those responsible of threatening two activists helping victims must also be identified by way of an effective investigation.

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