Republic of the PhilippinesHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

TWELFTH CONGRESSThird Regular Session

HOUSE RESOLUTION No. 1424____________________________________________________________________________________

Introduced by Reps. SATUR C. OCAMPO, JOEL G. VIRADOR and SIEGFRED D. DEDURO____________________________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTIONDIRECTING THE COMMITTEE ON CIVIL, POLITICAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS, TO CONDUCT AN IMMEDIATE

INVESTIGATION, IN AID OF LEGISLATION, INTO SEVERAL INCIDENTS OF GRAVE HARASSMENT AND PHYSICAL ATTACKS AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE LOCAL CHAPTERS OF KARAPATAN AND BAYAN MUNA AND THE SAMAHAN

NG MAGBUBUKID SA KANLURANG MINDORO IN RELATION TO THE HOLDING OF A HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM IN SAN JOSE, MINDORO OCCIDENTAL LAST DECEMBER 10, 2003, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY,

INCLUDING THE THROWING OF A GRENADE IN THE PREMISES OF THE KARAPATAN OFFICE, WHICH WERE ALLEGEDLY PERPETRATED BY ELEMENTS AND AGENTS OF THE 16TH INFANTRY BATTALION

AND 204TH INFANTRY BRIGADE UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF COL. FERNANDO MESA

WHEREAS last December 10, 2003, International Human Rights Day, a human rights forum organized by people’s organizations led by Karapatan and Bayan Muna in San Jose, Mindoro Occidental was deliberately prevented from pushing through because of a series of incidents involving grave harassment, intimidation and direct physical attacks that were allegedly perpetrated by members and agents of the 16 th

Infantry Battalion of the 204th Infantry Brigade under the leadership of Col. Fernando Mesa;

WHEREAS according to initial documented accounts by Karapatan in Southern Tagalog, the following series of incidents occurred, during and after the said human rights forum:

December 3. Bayan Muna-Mindoro Occidental announced over radio the holding of the human rights forum at the San Jose town plaza on December 10;

December 4. Streamers attacking Karapatan, Bayan Muna and the New People’s Army (NPA) suddenly appeared along major roads in San Jose and Magsaysay towns;

December 5. More streamers attacking Karapatan and Bayan Muna were sighted. Some of the streamers linked both organizations to the NPA;

December 8. The cause-oriented groups submitted their application for a Mayor’s permit to hold their forum. The specific venue was stated in the application;

December 9. Many anti-Karapatan and anti-Bayan Muna streamers suddenly filled the San Jose town plaza, venue of the forum, as well as the municipal hall compound up to the nearest police station;

December 10, Forum Proper. Early into the day, a yellow jeepney with a sound system went around the vicinity of the San Jose town plaza and assailed Bayan Muna and Karapatan for allegedly recruiting members for the NPA. The occupants of the jeep all had their faces covered; some donned bonnets. Likewise distributed were leaflets attacking the said groups, issued by a certain Integrated Mindoro People’s Alliance Against Crimes and Communist Terrorists (IMPAACCT).

Four truckloads of soldiers from the 16th Infantry Battalion then arrived. At this point, the yellow jeepney stationed itself at the San Jose town plaza and some of its occupants were seen talking with the troops. When the people’s organizations began their forum, the jeepney occupants in

bonnets spoke over their own sound system simultaneously. When the forum’s speakers stopped in the course of their discussion, the unidentified persons stopped talking as well.

Elements of the police and military surrounded the plaza, but the men in bonnets were able to break through. They grabbed leaflets, bags and cameras from the forum participants. The police and military did nothing to stop the brazen disruption of the forum, according to members of the people’s organizations present.

To prevent any further untoward incident, the group decided to move elsewhere to continue their forum. But the unidentified men punctured the tires of their jeepney. The group then moved to the parish hall right across the road. As the participants were crossing the road, a participant was hit with a metal pipe. The male assailant came from the ranks of the military and police. He swiftly fled the place after throwing the metal pipe to the unidentified men inside the yellow jeepney. Again, the police and military did nothing to enforce peace and order.

At the parish hall, the group decided to just hold a short program because of the worsening situation. But the electricity was suddenly cut off.

Shortly after this, the spokesperson of IMPAACCT who identified himself as Randy Castro was heard over radio saying that more violent incidents will happen against members of Karapatan and Bayan Muna should they refuse to stop their advocacies.

In the evening, a grenade was thrown in the premises of the Karapatan office in San Jose. The grenade’s safety pin was already removed but, fortunately, the grenade did not explode;

December 11 and 12. Unidentified men pelted stones at the Karapatan office in San Jose. This occurred after a vehicle was seen monitoring the office the whole day;

December 13. Members of Karapatan en route to radio station DZVT to hold their regular program were tailed by unidentified men on board motorcycles and a red pick-up truck. The motorcycles regularly went to and from the radio station afterwards. This forced the members of Karapatan to stay inside the station long after the program was over. Members of IMPAACCT reiterated their threats over radio against the people’s organizations;

WHEREAS the island-province of Mindoro has served as government’s counter-insurgency laboratory under the present administration. Mindoro Oriental, in particular, has been the site of many cases of extrajudicial killings of members of Bayan Muna, Karapatan and other militant groups allegedly by military troops and agents. Among the victims are human rights advocates Eden Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy who were abducted and mercilessly killed in April 2003 while on a fact-finding mission;

WHEREAS last July 21, 2003, soldiers belonging to the 16 th Infantry Battalion strafed the hut of a Mangyan family in Magsaysay, Mindoro Occidental, and killed the entire family which included an eight-month pregnant mother and her children aged 3 and 1. Militant groups believe that after Mindoro Oriental, it is now Mindoro Occidental which is now being targeted for attacks;

WHEREAS the rights to peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances are fundamental precepts enshrined in our Constitution and in all major human rights instruments to which the Philippines is a signatory;

WHEREAS the experience of progressive and militant groups as shown in documented accounts demonstrates the utter disregard for these basic rights by elements of the military and police;

WHEREAS the red-baiting tactics employed against members of legal, democratic organizations have dangerously turned the latter into enemy targets that need to be neutralized – which the AFP in its own publication Tala has virtually endorsed. This bares government’s intolerance to any and all forms of

dissent, especially in the light of the Macapagal-Arroyo government’s staunch support of the US war on terrorism;

WHEREAS there is an urgent need for government to seriously address the alarming human rights situation in the island of Mindoro and in the whole country, an issue which has long been raised by human rights groups and international organizations such as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, United Nations Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Amnesty International and International Federation of Journalists; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Committee on Civil, Political and Human Rights conduct an investigation, in aid of legislation, into several incidents of grave harassment and physical attacks against members of the local chapters of Karapatan and Bayan Muna and the Samahan ng Magbubukid sa Kanlurang Mindoro in relation to the holding of a human rights forum in San Jose, Mindoro Occidental last December 10, 2003, International Human Rights Day, including the throwing of a grenade in the premises of the Karapatan office, which were allegedly perpetrated by elements and agents of the 16 th

Infantry Battalion and 204th Infantry Brigade under the leadership of Col. Fernando Mesa;

RESOLVED FURTHER that appropriate measures be recommended against the military and police officers directly in charge of the forces deployed at the San Jose town plaza on December 10, 2003 for their obvious failure to maintain peace and order at the very least;

RESOLVED FINALLY that appropriate measures be likewise recommended to ensure that the people’s basic rights to free speech and assembly are respected, recognized and upheld by state authorities.

Adopted,

SATUR C. OCAMPO JOEL G. VIRADOR SIEGFRED D. DEDUROBayan Muna–Party-List Bayan Muna–Party-List Bayan Muna–Party-List