PHILIPPINES: Police kill farmer in front of his family; another activist disappears

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that another farmer has been killed and a community organizer disappeared. Policemen shot dead farmer Arturo Tolentino in front of his wife and children on October 26 2007 in Samal, Bataan. Another activist, Pedro Calilung, had been reported missing after he was last seen in Guagua, Pampanga in October 24 2007. These are yet further incidents in a series of extrajudicial killing and abductions taking place in the country.

CASE DETAILS: (Based on the information received from the Kilusan Para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (Movement for National Democracy))

CASE 1:

It was on October 24 when Pedro Calilung was last seen at around 9am at a public market in Guagua, Pampanga. Calilung was a community organizer of market vendors in the area. After he was last seen, he could not be contacted until his colleagues were able to speak to him on October 26 via his mobile phone. Calilung sounded frightened and could not properly speak. When asked about his whereabouts, surprisingly he did not elaborate. However, he claimed that he was staying with his relatives. But when follow-up calls were made to his relatives they confirmed that he was not staying with them. Neither, they said, were they aware of his whereabouts.

Following that Calilung could no longer be contacted on his mobile phone. It is learned though that prior to his disappearance, Calilung had already shared with his colleagues and some people in his community of his security concerns. He once mentioned that: “the military agents are spying on me”. His suspicion was prompted by several occasions in which unknown persons were inquiring about him and his activities.

Calilung came from a family of farmers who are natives of Bacolor, Pampanga. Calilung himself had been deeply involved in activism even before Martial Law was declared in the early 70s during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos. He had been arrested and detained for almost two years as a political detainee. He too had experienced brutal torture in the early years of his activism.

Calilung was also deeply involved in organizing displaced calamity victims when the Mt. Pinatubo volcano exploded in the early 90s. It may be recalled that thousands of villagers were displaced from several municipalities in Pampanga province during the devastating volcanic eruption. His personal contribution was organizing the displaced villagers and helping them to assert their right to welfare during the calamity.

CASE 2:

On October 26, at around 5am Arturo Tolentino, his wife and children were sleeping inside their house in Samal, Bataan when policemen attached to the Balanga and Samal Municipal Police Stations respectively entered their home. It is reported that the policemen had come to Tolentino’s house purposely to serve arrest orders on him at the time.

According to Tolentino’s wife, when the police entered their house, no explanations were given to them regarding the purpose of their entry. Soon after they entered, everyone was handcuffed and forced to drop to the floor facing to the ground. Shortly after, a commotion took place inside and shots were heard. For almost two hours, the police did not remove the handcuffs they had put on them.

Shortly after, Tolentino’s wife stood up and she saw her husband’s dead body leaning against a nearby concrete wall. Tolentino’s handcuffs had already been removed. Days later the policemen accused Tolentino of shooting at them first as they approached his house to serve the arrest order. They claimed the shooting prompted them to return fire. The police’ version, however, was completely contrary to the victim’s wife and those present inside the house.

The police have accused Tolentino of being a leader of an illegal armed group and was the object of their “order of battle”. They claimed to have obtained arrest order for murder for him.

However, the police’ theory that it was the victim who shot at them first had been highly questioned by the victim’s wife and those present when the police entered the house. According to his wife, the commotion and shooting took place soon after the policemen entered into their house. It is to be noted that Tolentino was handcuffed upon the entry of the police.

The policemen involved in Tolentino’s death have also been accused of having complicity in the disappearance and subsequent murder of another activist, Audie Lucero, in February 2006. It may be recalled that it was the policemen from Balanga who were last seen talking to Lucero before he was taken by another group of policemen and soldiers into their custody. Lucero was found dead the following day. For details please read: UA-078-2006

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to concerned government agencies requesting for them to ensure that an effective investigation are conducted into these cases. Those responsible in conducting surveillance operations on Pedro Calilung must be identified. The policemen involved in the killing of Arturo Tolentino must also be investigated and imposed with sanctions. Appropriate charges must also be filed against them. Adequate protection and assistance must also be afforded to Tolentino’s family without delay.

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