PHILIPPINES: Two more activists killed, three others wounded in separate incidents 

PHILIPPINES: Extra-judicial killings; violence against activists; a need for effective police investigation, protection to families of the dead; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that two more activists were shot dead while three others were wounded in separate incidents. On December 6, peasant leader Alberto Yadan of San Juan, Batangas was shot dead inside his house in front of his family. On December 8, another peasant leader Bong Gunzal survived an attempt on his life in Iloilo. On December 11, labour activist Jesus Buth Servida was shot dead while one of his companions and another person were also wounded in Imus, Cavite.

CASE DETAILS:

On December 6, Alberto Yadan had arrived in his house in Barangay (village) Tipas, San Juan, Batangas at around 7:30pm when shot by a gunman wearing bull cap and had his face partially covered with a towel. According to a lone witness (name withheld for security reasons), Yadan was seating near their kitchen taking coffee after eating his dinner when the gunman, armed with a .45 calibre pistol, entered his house and repeatedly shot him. Yadan managed to run about five meters before he fell dead to the ground. Four gunshots were heard during the shooting. Yadan died from a single bullet that pierced his back and exited through his chest.

The witness said he was brushing his teeth at the kitchen when he noticed that their dog outside was barking. Soon after he saw a man carrying a handgun barge into the house and shoot the victim. The gunman was wearing a grey T-shirt, denim pants and a white pair of shoes. After the shooting, the gunman calmly left and was met by his companion, who served as lookout and was waiting outside. It is reported that no proper investigation and handling of evidence was conducted by elements of the San Juan Municipal Police Station who conducted the investigation at the crime scene. When they arrived at the crime scene, what they did was to gather empty shells and hauled the victim’s dead body into their vehicle. They took the body to the Municipal Hall and later turned it over to the victim’s relatives.

Prior to the incident, Yadan had been receiving threats on his life. On December 5, Police Officer 2 (PO2) Melanio Gazzingan allegedly made threatening remarks on Yadan and his relatives soon after they attended a hearing of a complaint they filed against the former. They were at the Camp Rafael Crame, National Headquarter of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Quezon City, Metro Manila when the incident took place. Reports said Gazzingan warned Yadan and his family: “May paglalagyan kayo kung ayaw n’yong tumigil (You’ll be placed elsewhere if you won’t stop). Gazzingan have since been critical of Yadan and his relatives as a result of their continuing campaign to have the huge tract of lands by Gazzingan’s mother-in-law, Norma de Leon, covered under the land reform programme.

Yadan has since been assisting his cousin Lorenza Marcos, former tenant of De Leon, in the latter’s claim for land ownership as provided by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp), an agrarian reform law that allows distribution of farm lands for landless tenants. In 2004, Yadan and his relatives went into hiding after arrest warrants were issued for them over alleged fabricated charges filed against them. In the course of the dispute, Marcos filed a case of grave threats before the Municipal Trial Court of San Juan, Batangas against PO2 Gazzingan. Yadan testified in court against Gazzingan.

Also in another incident, Yadan’s relative also disclosed that several days before the incident Barangay (village) police member Melchor Bataller also made threatening remarks to Yadan and his relatives. The complete details to the motive as to why Bataller made threats to Yadan and his relatives is not yet known. One of Yadan’s relatives said quoting Bataller: “Kami ang papatayin kapag kami ay magkasalubong (They told us they will kill us once we cross roads). Yadan and his relatives reported the incident to the municipal police.

After the shooting incident, it was Bataller whom elements of the San Juan Municipal Police Station arrested as a possible suspect. Bataller was later taken to the provincial office of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after being arrested from his house. Whether or not Bataller had direct involvement into the murder of Yadan, has yet to be thoroughly investigated.

According to information from the Partnership for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development Services (PARRDS), a non-governmental organisation seeking genuine land reform, Yadan had just arrived from a court hearing of a case involving a land dispute he was handling in Pagbilao, Quezon when he was killed. At the time of his death, Yadan was a leader of the Ugnayan ng mga Nagsasariling Lokal na Organisasyon sa Kanayunan (UNORKA-Pilipinas). He also led a campaign to place a 23-hectare landholding owned by another influential landowner Lidrada Tolosa under the Carp. Yadan’s colleagues in UNORKA believe that his murder motivated by his involvement in the one of the cases he was handling.

On December 8, community organiser Bong Gonzal survived an attempt on his life after he was attacked by two armed men in Estancia, Iloilo at around 10am. Gonzal was on his way to the office of PROGRESO when unidentified armed men shot him. PROGRESO is a local network of PEACE. Gonzal is the regional coordinator of PEACE, a national non-government organisation pursuing agrarian reform, rural democratization and development issues. Their office is just 300 meters away from the Estancia Municipal hall.

Gonzal suffered gunshot wounds to his arm and legs.  He was taken to a nearby hospital and was declared out of danger. According to his fellow workers, Gonzal and all the PROGRESO community organizers have been receiving death threats over land reform cases that they have helped campaigned for. Among these cases includes influential landowners Bedros (Please read our previous appeal on this case: UA-350-2006) and Valderama Estates.

On December 11, labour activist Jesus Buth Servida (32) was shot dead in front of a Japanese-owned factory in Anabu, Imus, Cavite at around 6:15am. According to Nora Diloy, secretary for union Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa EMI (EDS Manufacturing Incorporated) or (SM-Independent), Servida suffered gunshot wounds to his face and mouth. He was a resident of Malagasang in Imus. Servida’s companion, Joel Sale (32), suffered gunshot wounds to his face that exited to his lip, to his back and to the right side of his body. Another victim, Kenny Mari Severo (21), one of the workers of the said factory, was also hit to the left temple of his head by stray bullet. Sale and Severo were immediately taken to the University Medical Center (UMC) in Dasmarinas, Cavite where they were treated for their injuries.

According to information received from Workers’ Assistance Center, Inc. (WAC), a non-governmental labour organisation, Servida and Sale were with their two other companions, Michael Omedes and Geminiano Retutar, onboard their service vehicle waiting in front of the factory’s Gate No. 2 for the guard to open when attacked. They went to the factory to deliver vegetables.  Servida and Sale were seating at the right side of the vehicle when the shooting took place. Servida was seated at the driver’s seat while Sale was on his back. The gunman used a caliber .45 pistol in the attack. The gunman walked casually away from the scene of the crime in full view of the public. Later in the afternoon of December 11, Sale had undergone surgical operation while Severo likewise undergone to a CT scan.

Servida and Sale were members of the Solidarity of Cavite Workers (SCW), an alliance of labour groups and unions in Cavite. The killing of Servida and wounding of his companion, is the latest violent incident in Cavite, in particular of the said factory. It may be recalled that Gerardo Cristobal, the former union president of the Yazaki-EMI, also survived an attempt on his life when ambushed by armed men later identified as policemen attached to the Imus Municipal Police Station in Cavite in April 28, 2006. (To read the detail of this case please read: UA-142-2006).

In January of 2005, a union leader, Cris Abad, vice president of the labour union Kristong Manggagawa of the same factory was also shot dead by unknown attacker in front of the company after he exposed allegations of corruption of the union’s fund by his fellow officers. According to a report from the SCW, victims Servida and Sale were full-time organisers of the Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Yazaki-EMI (SM-EMI). It was part of their union’s program to help other workers in the municipality of Imus and Bacoor to organise themselves into unions to assert their rights.

It may also be recalled that murdered victim Servida and his colleague, namely Sale, Omedes and Retutar, were former employees and officers of the union Kristong Manggagawa sa Yazaki-EMI (KM-EMI). The four mentioned above were terminated by the management in December 20, 2005 due to the intra-union dispute that began in 2002. Cristobal was also among those dismissed from work.

Servida and his three colleagues were also part of the new concessionaires operating the Workers’ Delight, one of the two canteens inside the factory, which was contracted by the officers of the SM-EMI. The operation of the canteen was part of the provision of the first collective bargaining agreement  (CBA) signed this November 2006 between the SM-EMI labour union and their management, Yazaki-EMI.

Servida and his three companions were helpful in forming the SM-EMI union after they were terminated from their work and challenged their rival labour union KM-EMI in the certification election (CE). The CE is being held to determine who would represent the factory’s 4,000 workers as a sole and exclusive bargaining agent (Seba) in the negotiation for the CBA to negotiate with the management. The SM-EMI won in the election and in November 2006 the CBA was signed.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the concerned agencies requesting them to have the murder of Alberto Yadan and Jesus Buth Servida thoroughly investigated. Appropriate assistance and compensation must also be afforded to victims Joel Sale and Kenny Mari Severo wounded during the attack made on Servida. This must also be the same intervention into the attempt made on the life of activist Bong Gonzal.

 

 

 

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