Stop the empty bragging; we want the “big fish”, rights victims tell BS Aquino

News Release

25 March 2014

“We want the real “big fish” arrested, the real perpetrators of crimes against humanity,” said victims of human rights violations in reaction to BS Aquino’s overweening pride in the arrest of communist leaders Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria.

Families of victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances lambasted Malacanang statements that repeatedly called Tiamzon and Austria as the “big fish.”

“Walang dapat ipagmalaki si Pang. Noynoy Aquino kasi ang hinuli niya ay yung kaaway NIYA, hindi ang kaaway ng mamamayan,” (Pres. Noynoy Aquino has nothing to be proud of because he only captured HIS enemy – NOT the people’s enemy), Desaparecidos secretary general Aya Santos stated. “We want Jovito Palparan, Joel Reyes and Mario Reyes arrested and jailed. It is not enough to increase the reward for the so-called “Big Five”. The question remains, where are the fugitives?”

“The Aquino government is mistaken to think that he can quash the revolutionary movement by illegally arresting its leaders. Until injustices, state violence and repression continue, more Filipinos, especially the oppressed, are ready to join the movement to seek social justice,” Santos said.

Santos is the daughter of Leo Velasco, missing NDFP consultant, who was abducted by suspected government forces in 2007. Her father is likewise protected by JASIG. Velasco remain is still missing to date. In 2012, Pres. Aquino offered a reward of P2 million each for the arrest of the so-called Big Five, among them, Palparan, the Reyes brothers, and former Dinagat Island Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr.

“We want plunderers, corrupt politicians and butchers punished, not the people who are part of the peace negotiations with the government. They are the real enemies of the people. They are the big fish,” said Ernan Baldomero, Hustisya vice-chairperson.

Ernan is the son of Fernando Baldomero, first victim of extrajudicial killing under the Aquino government.

“They arrest and detain critics and those who challenge the status quo, disregarding demands for justice and genuine reforms for the people.” Baldomero said Pres. Aquino’s stance on the arrest of Tiamzon and Austria, while letting the fugitives remain scot-free “is sickening”.

“We are appalled by Pres. Aquino’s empty bragging, using Tiamzon and Austria as trophies while simply shrugging off people’s clamor for the arrest of Palparan and the Reyeses who committed crimes against the people,” said Baldomero.

“The government has no right to talk peace if it continues to arrest and detain the other party to the negotiations. If BS Aquino wants to address the roots of the armed conflict, the killing, abduction, arrest and torture of dissenters of the government’s anti-people policies should end,” Baldomero added.

Groups Hustisya and Desaparecidos joined calls to resume the peace talks. ###

Reference:

Aya Santos, Secretary General, Desaparecidos (09088121982, 024354146)

Ernan Baldomero, Vice-Chairperson, Hustisya, (0905-4732505)

Tatay

Open Letter to President Benigno S. Aquino

Today is Tatay’s 7^th year of disappearance. My father, Leo Velasco, disappeared under the Gloria Arroyo government. On that day, February 19, 2007, Tatay was walking along Pres. Aguinaldo St. in Cagayan de Oro. He stopped to buy a stick of cigarette when a gray Mitsubishi L300 van suddenly stopped and men grabbed him.

I never saw him since then.

I was shattered to find out Tatay was abducted. The first few hours of trying to find Tatay was excruciating. I worried thinking he was being tortured. Days passed and still there was no sign of Tatay. We went to military camps, police headquarters, asked assistance to the Commission on Human Rights, International Committee of the Red Cross and so on. Still, Tatay remain missing.

My parents, being consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines for the peace process knew the risks of fighting for the principles they believed in. Having comrades who were killed, tortured, imprisoned, disappeared, Tatay knew he might end up like them. He had told me about these risks, trying to build up the courage in me. He was aware that someday I might lose him in the same way.

So, every year since that day I write Tatay a letter, hoping it would reach him wherever he is—in some dark detention cell perhaps?

But this year, my letter is addressed to you, Mr. President. For after seven years of disappearance, Tatay is most probably not alive anymore. My logical mind tells me this. But, my hopeful heart says otherwise.

Since day one, I held Gloria Arroyo responsible for the disappearance of my father, and many others. But today, I am holding your government accountable for the continuing disappearance of Tatay and nine other missing NDFP consultants, and hundreds more of desaparecidos.

Your government remains indifferent to victims like us who seek justice. The Anti-Enforced Disappearance Law may be enacted. Yet, none of the perpetrators were actually prosecuted. The notorious rights violator Ret. Gen. Jovito Palparan remains at-large. I doubt if I will ever get justice for my father under your regime.  You have even closed all doors for the continuation of the peace negotiations between the NDFP and your government, a venue for us relatives of missing NDFP consultants to address our concerns. This makes our quest for justice even dimmer.

Today, my only desire is to know what had happened to Tatay, to get his remains, and put him in a proper resting place. I know that even this is too much to ask of you, Mr. President because to surface my father and the other missing persons will reveal a lot of dirty secrets in the military institution. But, you owe us. I’m sure anyone who has humanity would understand the kind of pain we families of desaparecidos are going through.

Aya Santos
Daughter of Leo Velasco
February 19, 2014

Son of Guatemalan desaparecido brings hope to families of disappeared Filipino activists

Samuel Villatorro was only eight years old when his father Amancio was abducted and disappeared by the Guatemalan army on March 11, 1984.  Amancio was 47 years old and had just assumed leadership in the National Labor Union, after its president was disappeared.  Amancio was among the 45,000 people disappeared during the civil war in Guatemala.  Last year, Samuel found the remains of his father in a mass grave, the first to be among the 5,000 remains dug up through the years.

Samuel’s story had heartened the families of disappeared that he met in the country, particularly Lorena “Aya” Santos, whose father Leo Velasco, a peace consultant of the National Democratic Front (NDF) was disappeared by suspected state agents on February 19, 2007.

“My father was disappeared six years ago.  For Samuel, it took him 29 years, but he was still able to find his father’s remains.  Maybe not all hope is lost for the families of desaparecidos,” said Santos, who is also the Secretary General of the Families of the Disappeared for Justice or Desaparecidos.

Samuel is a delegate of the International Conference for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines being held on July 19 to 21 in Quezon City.

Samuel took part in a campaign called “My Name is Not XXX” which was an effort to put an image of the disappeared so as not to be forgotten by the Guatemalan society.  The campaign led to the retrieval of remains in mass graves located in former military camps.  The remains were subjected to DNA tests and one of the dead was identified to be Amancio Villatoro. His remains were found, together with 220 more bodies in an indigenous people’s community in San Juan Comalapa, Country of Chimaltenango where locals used to witness people coming in a military camp and never seen to come out. The locals knew many were buried in that place. More than 200 remains were retrieved with traditional clothing  while six, among of them was Amancio were wearing modern clothes like t-shirts and pants. Amancio was wearing Levis jeans.

Several regimes after the civil war in Guatemala provided enough space for families of the disappeared to search for their loved ones. With the support of international non-government organizations, a machine that does DNA tests was donated to Guatemala to identify the retrieved remains of desaparecidos.

“The situation in the Philippines brings me back to the time when my father was still disappeared, giving me strong emotional clash.” Samuel said. Samuel was also a member of the Southern Tagalog Team of the International Solidarity Mission where together with other Latin American delegates, he interviewed victims of human rights violations in the heavily-militarized communities in Bondoc Peninsula, Quezon province,. There are two documented enforced disappearance in Southern Tagalog under the Noynoy Aquino Administration, Felix Balaston and Alfredo Bucal.

“Meeting Samuel is like meeting a brother from a distant land,” Santos said. “Both our fathers stood up for the principles they believed in,” Santos said. “Government  violence unites victims of rights violations,  and it’s amazing how an international conference like this brings victims together, to take the struggle for justice and peace globally.” ###