COWARDLY CRACKDOWN: Killing of 9 activists denounced

BY HANNAH TORREGOZA * AARON RECUENCO

Senators and rights groups slammed Monday the killing of nine activists in police and military raids in the Southern Tagalog region early Sunday, describing it as a high level of disrespect towards basic human rights.

Senators Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros said the killing of nine activists in separate places – in the province of Rizal, Batangas and Cavite – warrant the attention and condemnation of the Filipino people and the international community.

“Labor and community organizers are not combatants. This cowardly crackdown deserves only the strongest condemnation,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

“There is no denying that this scale of violence, injustice and impunity is being perpetrated by this administration,” she further said.

Hontiveros said the President’s recent televised threats of red-tagging and outright murder are unbridled human rights violations that must be held to account.

De Lima echoed Hontiveros’ call, saying it is no coincidence that two days after President Duterte ordered the security forces to “kill them all” and “ignore human rights,” six activists were arrested and nine were reportedly killed in Southern Tagalog “in just one morning.”

LEGITIMATE OPS

Meanwhile, Gen. Debold M. Sinas, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said the region-wide raids against personalities with alleged links to communist rebels is valid.

He said at least 24 search warrants were implemented in the houses and offices of groups that were earlier branded as front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal by joint PNP operatives and local military forces under COPLAN (Case Operation Plan) ASVAL.

The series of raids conducted on Sunday was described as a simultaneous implementation of search warrants against what the police described as Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs) in CALABARZON.

Nine people died while at least 15 others were arrested. Four people whose names appeared in the search warrants eluded arrest, according to Sinas.

“They’re not illegitimate operations. They’re legitimate operations because they are covered by search warrants,” said Sinas.

Sinas said the search warrants are for charges of illegal possession of firearms. But he said not all of the subjects of the operations have pending cases.

In one of the spot reports involving Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN)-Cavite coordinator Manny Asuncion who was killed after he allegedly tried to shoot it out with cops and soldiers, it stated that a .45 pistol was seized from him.

In the case of Abner Damas Esto and Emil Esto in Rodriguez town of Rizal, one of them allegedly fired at the raiding policemen which resulted in the clash and eventually led to their deaths. Allegedly seized from them were two handguns and two grenades.

In the case of fisherfolk organizers couple Ariel Evangelista and Ana Evangelista, the serving of the search warrant on them allegedly led to the shootout.

The couple were killed and militant human rights group Karapatan said the death of the couple was witnessed by their 10-year-old child who hid under the bed.

The group condemned the operations and questioned the police statements that those who died tried to shoot it out with them, saying it was the same narrative they used during the drug war wherein the Department of Justice itself stated that there were some violations of police operational procedures.