ZAMBOANGA CITY, 28 May 2006 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is negotiating peace with Manila, expressed alarm over the spate of summary executions in the country and urged President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to do something to stop the killings.
Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF’s Committee on Information, also echoed a recent report by the Amnesty International (AI) about the rampant cases of human rights abuses and summary killings of innocent civilians in the Philippines.
He said there is an increasing rise in summary executions in the Philippines. “How does one rate this increasing rise of summary executions in the country from Davao to Zamboanga, Palawan to Manila, which already reached several hundreds since 2001?
"If this is not chilling and then what is it?” Musa said.
He said over 600 people were victims of political killings that last five years. The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) said more than 70 journalists were also murdered since 2001, making the country the most dangerous place for journalists, second to Iraq.
The military’s Southern Command disputed Musa’s statement, saying, there is now an atmosphere of peace in the region.
“There are no rampant human right violations or summary killings in Mindanao or in Sulu archipelago. There is now an atmosphere of tranquility in the region because of efforts not only of the government, but also by different nongovernmental organizations, the church and the people themselves, to work together for peace and harmony,” Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, Southcom chief, told Arab News.
The military had previously blamed the communist New People’s Army (NPA) and the Abu Sayyaf group for the series of killings and bombings in the region.
Arroyo’s spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the AI report was unfair, after the human rights watchdog claimed a climate of impunity exists in the Philippines.
Musa said the AI report was objective and fair and reflective of the total human rights condition not only in Mindanao but throughout the country.
“The Arroyo administration must do something concrete to stop these senseless killings immediately or it has no reason to stay in power any longer,” he said.
In its annual human rights report, the AI said the lack of confidence in government and the criminal justice system contributed to the apparent public tolerance on killings and rampant violation of human rights in the Philippines.
It also scored the rise in human rights abuses and summary executions of political activists in the country.
258th Victim
A leftist leader who was killed in Laguna province near Manila was the latest victim. Noli Capulong, the regional coordinator of Bayan Southern Tagalog, was waylaid by two gunmen while he was driving his owner-type jeepney in Parian village in Calamba, Laguna, some 56 kilometers south of Manila, said police Senior Superintendent Aaron Fidel.
Capulong was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital, Fidel said in a phone interview. He could not give further details.
Several activists killed this month were also gunned down by two suspects on board motorcycles but authorities insist that the murders were not related.
According to human rights group Karapatan, Capulong is the 258th activists to be murdered since President Arroyo assumed power in 2001.
Based on data from the police Task Force Usig, Capulong is the 124th to be gunned down since 2001.
“The government has not done anything. The killings continue,” Bayan national secretary-general Renato Reyes said in a text message.
Last Wednesday, national police spokesman Senior Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr. maintained that authorities were doing the best they could to stop the murders, which he blamed on “fluctuating” crime trends. (With a report from Inquirer News Service)
