(Agence France-Presse)

MANILA—The Philippine government and a human rights group on Saturday hailed a US court decision awarding compensation to victims of the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos as a symbolic victory.

The US decision, awarding about $1,000 each to some 7,500 victims of Marcos-era abuses, would provide some vindication more than 20 years after the dictator was toppled from power, a government official said.

“We welcome (the decision) insofar as it puts closure to decades-long wait of the claimants in this case. It is a vindication for a wrong that was done to them,” said President Benigno Aquino’s spokeswoman Abigail Valte.

Father Dionito Cabillas, secretary-general of Selda, a victims’ organization which originally brought the case, said: “It is small but it is a symbol of justice, a symbol of triumph for the sickly and aging victims of the Marcos dictatorship.”

A US federal judge in Honolulu earlier this week approved the distribution of $7.5 million as part of a settlement to those tortured, detained and killed under Marcos.

The money comes from assets held in the US by a crony of Marcos, in whose name the dictator allegedly bought land in Texas and Colorado.

Marcos, who came to power in 1965 and declared martial law in 1972, used such cronies to plunder state coffers and stash his money abroad until he was overthrown by a popular revolt in 1986.

Marcos fled to exile in Hawaii and died there in 1989 but members of his family have returned home and regained some measure of influence.

Efforts to recover the stolen wealth of Marcos and his cronies have been complicated for years by the competing claims of the government and victims, and the legal tactics of the Marcos family.

Valte said the government was not a party to this latest case, adding that it was up to other official agencies whether to contest the US decision or not.

The head of a government commission tasked with recovering the Marcos wealth said that his agency was studying the issue.

“That (decision) does not prejudice the ability of the republic to go after these properties,” commission chairman Andres Bautista was quoted as saying in the Philippine Inquirer newspaper.

Cabillas said he hoped Aquino would order government agencies not to block the victims from receiving their payments.

“The pleading of the victims is to let justice be served to them, no matter how small, so they can have some kind of satisfaction,” he told AFP.

President Aquino is himself the son of an opposition leader jailed and then murdered by Marcos soldiers. His widowed mother, Corazon Aquino, later led the revolt that toppled the dictator.

However, Marcos’s shoe-loving widow, Imelda, and his son Ferdinand Jr. were elected to the legislature in the May 10 vote that brought Benigno Aquino to power, while a Marcos daughter won a provincial governor’s seat.

Spokesmen for the Marcos family could not be contacted for comment.#

By Ronalyn. V.Olea, Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Two more of the so-called “Morong 43” were freed today, Dec. 28, after their lawyers convinced the court that the supposedly pending criminal cases that the police and military cited to prevent their earlier release involved namesakes.

Aldrin Garcia and Antonio de Dios, both 31 years old, walked out of the Metro Manila District Jail (MMDJ) inside Camp Bagong Diwa, at around 4:40 p.m. today. De Dios is wearing a white shirt printed with the words “Free the 43!” while Garcia is wearing a shirt that read “I am proud to be a community health worker.” Both of them carry black knapsacks containing some of their clothes.

The two went straight to the office of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Quezon City where they were met by supporters. They shared a meal of chicken and spaghetti to celebrate their freedom.

The two are among the five male detainees who were left behind at the BJMP after 33 of the Morong 43 were released on Dec. 17. Authorities said the five could not be freed that day because they allegedly faced other charges.

The Morong court issued release orders for the 43 health workers after the Department of Justice withdrew the charges against them. No less than President Benigno S. Aquino III declared that the rights of the 43 had been violated and that due process had not been observed.

Aldrin Garcia (left) and Antonio de Dios after their release today. (Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com)

The 43 were arrested on Feb. 6 and were charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives. They insisted that they were only conducting a health training at the time of their arrest and that the firearms allegedly found on their possession had been planted by the military.

The supposedly pending charges against Garcia and de Dios were for drug use and for violation of the anti-bouncing check law.

“I am happy that I am now free but sad too because there are hundreds more political detainees languishing in jail,” Garcia told the media after he walked out of prison. He added that he might have trouble sleeping tonight because he is excited to see his daughter, who is in the province and who was born while he was in jail.

The three others who remain in jail are Rogelio Villarisis, Edwin Dematera and Danny Pinero. Five more of their companions are under the custody of the military, allegedly coerced to testify against the others.

In an interview with Bulatlat.com, de Dios said he did not expect to be released today. When asked what he missed most, De Dios replied: “I miss my family and I miss serving the poor.”

Garcia said that he is angry that the government locks up those who serve the people but sets free those who commit heinous crimes.

Both Garcia and De Dios said they would immediately go back to their work of providing health services to the poor. Garcia is from Masbate and de Dios is from Sorsogon.

Edre Olalia, one of their lawyees, said they obtained a certification from the Department of Health Treatment and Rehabilitation Center clearing Garcia of drug dependency.

Olalia also said documents from the Paranaque regional trial court (RTC) show that de Dios is not the same person accused of violating the anti-bouncing check law.

Olalia reiterated that the government has no legal basis for detaining the remaining Morong 43 detainees. He said that, no warrant of arrest or “commitment order” against the remaining three has been shown to them by the government. A commitment order designates an arrested person to a particular detention facility. (http://bulatlat.com)

(Philippine Daily Inquirer)

CITY OF CALAPAN, Philippines—A cultural worker, who was supposed to visit his father on Christmas, was killed in a military operation in San Jose town, Occidental Mindoro, on Thursday, according to the youth group Anakbayan.

Anakbayan-Timog Katagalugan and Karapatan-Southern Tagalog identified the victim as Stephen Lester Barrientos, 19, a member of the cultural group Southern Tagalog Cultural Network (STCN).

“Before he left for Mindoro he was excited and even confident that no harm would happen in his visit because of the declared ceasefire,” said Neil John Macuha, Anakbayan deputy secretary general, in a press release received by the Inquirer on Saturday.

Both groups condemned the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ 80th Infantry Battalion led by Lt. Col. Roger Percol for its offensive operation in San Jose despite a government-declared ceasefire.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and New People’s Army (NPA) have agreed to observe a ceasefire from Dec. 16 to Jan. 3, 2011, as part of a confidence-building measure before peace talks resume in the first quarter of 2011.

Col. Carlos Quita, commander of the 203rd Infantry Brigade, was surprised when asked about Barrientos. “He must be a rebel, then,” he said by phone on Saturday.

According to him, 20 soldiers and negotiating panel members were sent to the area to meet with Christian Bascos, 27, an alleged NPA rebel, who was about to turn himself in.

“But the returnee did not immediately show up so the (Army) troops pulled out,” he said.

Quita said that as they distanced themselves, a group of NPA rebels fired upon them.

He said there were less than 10 rebels and the gunfight did not last long.

Quita said they saw blood traces in the vicinity that could have come from a wounded rebel, but they did not recover any body from the site.

Bascos surrendered after the firefight and is under the custody of the Army.

“We did not violate the ceasefire. They were the ones who fired first and we have the right to self-defense,” added Quita.

He dismissed reports of three civilians illegally arrested in the operation.

Barrientos became a full-time member of the STCN after dropping out of Batangas State University due to financial difficulties.

He was active in many cultural performances in Southern Tagalog and the National Capital Region.

Barrientos was also involved in cultural workshops and street plays at picket lines, protest camps, far-flung rural areas and urban poor communities.

Meanwhile, in a phone interview with Barangay Bayotbot chairman Sandy Pondanera, he said they were not aware if it was the Army that was behind the killing and violation of the peace truce.

But he said it was peaceful in their community, because the killing took place more than eight kilometers from San Jose town proper, along the boundary of Barangays Mabini Annex and Antipolo.—Madonna T. Virola, Inquirer Southern Luzon

By Niña Calleja, Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines— As of 11 p.m Friday night, all 23 women detainees held in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan had been released to the cheers and hugs of relatives waiting for hours for them.

The women walked out of detention with raised fists. They had been held for 10 months and seven days.

The release was expected to continue through the night.

“[The release orders] mean that our clients have won in fighting for the dropping of the trumped-up charges against them. This is their victory and of their countless supporters,” said lawyer Jules Matibag.

Detained since February for alleged membership in the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the health workers were ordered freed after the regional and municipal trial courts of Morong dismissed the charges against them late Friday afternoon.

The charges—illegal possession of firearms and explosives and violation of the election gun ban—were withdrawn by the Department of Justice early this week on President Aquino’s behest on December 10.

The detainees’ kin erupted in cheers at around 4:30 p.m. when a lawyer walked out of the building holding copies of the decisions issued by Judge Gina Cenit-Escoto of Morong RTC Branch 78 and MTC Judge Rodrigo Posadas.

“My tears come from overwhelming joy. Finally, the world knows that my husband is innocent,” Evelyn Montes, wife of surgeon Alexis Montes, tearfully told reporters. “He is the most beautiful gift we have received this Christmas.”

The health workers were arrested on February 6 in a military-police operation at a farmhouse in Morong, Rizal, where they were holding a workshop in community health service.

They were accused of being NPA rebels training to make explosives—a charge they have denied. They also said the firearms and explosives purportedly seized from them were planted by the raiders.

Order covers all

The courts directed the jail warden at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City and the director general of Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal, to release all the accused from custody unless they were being detained for other lawful causes.

In her order, Judge Escoto also denied for lack of merit all petitions submitted to her court by Anad Representative Pastor Alcover seeking a stop to the withdrawal of criminal information against the Morong 43.

The release orders were faxed to the Metro Manila District Jail in Camp Bagong Diwa where 35 of the 43 were detained.

Two of the 23 women detainees, both new nursing mothers, were being held at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila.

Five who had purportedly admitted to being NPA rebels were being held at a detention facility in Camp Capinpin.

Another was confined at the Pateros-Taguig District Hospital for treatment of diabetes.

Matibag said the court orders guaranteed the freedom of all 43 detainees.

“The five in Camp Capinpin are included in the release orders and they should be immediately released to their families by their military custodians,” he said.

As to statements that some of the detainees had outstanding arrest warrants, Matibag said the government had yet to present such documents.

“Without any authenticated warrant of arrest issued by another court, all of the 43 should be released immediately,” he said.

Happy day but …

The left-wing group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) thanked President Aquino for paving the way for the release of the Morong 43.

“We thank the Aquino government, and hopefully it will heed calls for the release of all political prisoners, which is good for human rights and the peace process,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said in an interview.

“This is a happy day for all of us. A week after President Aquino gave the order to withdraw the case, the Morong courts have issued the release order. We are happy for the Morong 43 and their families. May they enjoy the holiday season together,” Reyes said.

But according to a list given to reporters by the Department of Justice’s Public Information Office (DOJ-PIO), detainee Eulogio Castillo is the subject of seven arrest warrants, including five for separate murder cases in Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro.

Castillo is also charged with usurpation of authority in Batangas City and violation of Batas Pambansa 22 (the anti-bouncing checks law) in Manila.

DOJ-PIO chief Alex Lactao said a total of five detainees might have to stay in detention.

“Under the law, one cannot be put in jail without a lawful cause. In this case, five of the 43 health workers were ordered arrested by the courts so they should still be detained,” Lactao told reporters.

The other detainees with arrest warrants were Edwin Bustamante, who was charged with rape; Aldrin Garcia, a drug-related case; Antonio de Dios, violation of BP 22; and Mario delos Santos, separate cases of murder and illegal detention.

Another detainee, Ramon dela Cruz, was also charged with violation of BP 22, but the case was dismissed on April 9, 1999.

In an earlier interview, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said at least two of the arrested health workers would have to stay in jail because the courts had issued warrants for their arrest.

Kin’s vigil

The detainees’ kin started arriving at Camp Bagong Diwa shortly after news of the release order broke.

Among those who kept vigil early on were University of the Philippines fine arts professor Neil Doloricon, whose wife Angela is among the Morong 43, and Ofelia Balleta, who was waiting for her daughter Jane.

Balleta said she had been anticipating Jane’s release since last week. She said she began to pack her daughter’s belongings and bedding used in detention on Wednesday.

“I’m so happy I want to cry. I want to jump, but I’m too old for it,” Balleta told reporters.

Jane’s four-year-old daughter had wished that her mother would be home for Christmas. “She has a Christmas party today and she wanted her mother to be with her,” Balleta said.

But Colonel Antonio Parlade Jr., the spokesperson of the Army, could not resist taking a potshot at the Morong 43.

Parlade said the Armed Forces would abide by President Aquino’s decision to withdraw the charges against the 43.

“Let us just make sure that next time, the NPA will not be able to use more explosives in killing civilians, just like what happened to the ‘Samar 11,’” he said.

Parlade was referring to the 10 soldiers and a nine-year-old boy who were killed in a rebel ambush in Northern Samar two days before the start of a holiday ceasefire between government troops and the NPA.

He added: “Let us not allow more training on the use of explosives by ‘health workers’ in the future. Next time we see them do these in plain view, even civilians can arrest them without a warrant. They just have to turn them over to the proper authorities.”

Parlade, however, said the military respected the decision of the courts to order the release of the Morong 43.

“The courts know best. [But] we feel no remorse,” he said. With reports from Marlon Ramos and Dona Z. Pazzibugan (12/18/2010)