By DOMINIC GUTOMAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – “Before, my son would like to become a soldier. But after what happened to his father, he no longer wants to follow that dream,” Lolita Abril told Bulatlat in Filipino, after filing a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), November 7.
Lolita Abril urged the CHR to conduct an independent investigation on the killing of her husband Ronel Abril and another coconut farmer Roger Clores last September 26. The two were allegedly killed by elements of the 2nd Infantry Battalion (2nd IB) in an “armed encounter.”
The families disputed the claim, together with the residents in a separate local media report, saying that Abril and Clores were not members of the New People’s Army (NPA) and there was no armed encounter that transpired at 5 a.m. of September 26.
Family’s account vs military account
“Five men visited us at 4:30 a.m. in the morning. They were asking for my husband Ronel. They talked for five minutes under a coconut tree. Afterwards, they went to the residence of Roger with my husband,” said Lolita. “They went back to our house only to say that they were bringing my husband somewhere. Ten minutes later, my children and I heard consecutive shots.”
It was the first time that soldiers personally visited them, so they had not anticipated the unfortunate incident. Her eleven-year-old daughter Ruby even recalled that the five men were wearing military uniform, weapons, combat boots, and face masks, making it significantly harder for the family to identify the specific traits of the perpetrators.
“The residents also flocked to the crime scene. They saw that the military troops changed to civilian clothes and departed in a Hi-Lux (a kind of pickup truck),” said Lolita.
Meanwhile, the 9th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army claimed in a news release that the 2nd IB “encountered eight members of the NPA in Brgy. Simawa, Uson, Masbate, at 5:40 a.m, but only two were slain.” They also allegedly recovered five high-powered firearms, 29 anti-personnel mines, and other “war materials.”
“We are poor. We do not have the capacity to buy a gun. The residents and the barangay captain can attest that they were not members of the NPA. He was our breadwinner, earning income through farming and copra processing,” said Lolita.
Lolita also underscored that it was Ronel’s dream for his children to finish their studies. Their oldest son is now in ninth grade, while Ruby, the youngest of the three children, is already in her fifth grade.
Urging independent investigation
“The two victims were not rebels. They were simply farmers,” peasant rights watchdog Tanggol Magsasaka said in a statement. “This is another case of extrajudicial killing that must be condemned and the 2nd IB must be held accountable.”
Tanggol Magsasaka, together with human rights groups Karapatan and Hustisya, joined the family of Abril in filing the complaint to the CHR. They urged the Commission and the appropriate committees of the Senate and House of Representatives to conduct separate and thorough investigations in the incident, underscoring the need to hold the military accountable for the loss of innocent lives. They also accompanied the family in getting the appropriate psycho-social interventions.
“These incidents show the worsening human rights situation in Masbate and other rural parts of the country,” said Tanggol Magsasaka. “It is time for the government to take action, ensure justice for the victims, and stop these senseless killings.”
In an earlier report, Karapatan – Masbate identified Abril and Clores as the 34th and the 35th victims of the 2nd IB. They also said that Masbate is the second province with the most victims of political killings under the administration of Marcos Jr., next to Negros.
Masbate is among the affected areas militarized under the Memorandum Order No. 32, which has been enforced since November 2018, in the name of the government’s counterinsurgency program. The particular provinces covered by this memorandum are Samar, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and the Bicol Region.
The family tried to reach out to the municipal government to file a complaint. Lolita said that the local police refused to accommodate their request for investigation because they failed to get “accurate information.”
“We did not go back to the municipality. We filed a blotter report the day my husband died but there has been no update since then,” said Lolita.
In the incident report written by Barangay Captain Dennis Subito, Abril and Clores were identified as civilians from Barangay Simawa, Uson. Lolita said that the military tried to force Subito to sign a document stating that there was an encounter in the area, but the village leader refused to do so. Bulatlat tried to reach out to Subito for further statements and will update the information once Subito responded.
‘Violations to international humanitarian law’
Tanggol Magsasaka said that the incident and the continued militarization in the rural areas undermine the safety of civilians and violates the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) under the Geneva Conventions.
IHL applies to international and non-international armed conflicts with the objective of limiting the casualties through two major approaches: protecting civilians at all cost and restricting the means and methods of warfare.
This international law is legally-binding as the Philippine government signed the Geneva Conventions, a set of IHL treaties that establish the legal standards and the humanitarian treatment for war.
The Common Article 3 of all four Geneva Conventions establishes the minimum protections in non-international armed conflicts. It stresses the strict prohibition of “murder of all kinds” against civilians. However, all the provisions of the Conventions emphasized the utmost protection of civilians during armed conflicts.
“Before his death, he recently came from the funeral of his father on September 15. He was still grieving before he was killed. It was hard for us to accept what happened,” said Lolita.
“I hope justice will be served to us. Ronel still has many plans for us, especially for the children. Those who killed him should be held accountable,” she said. (RTS, RVO)
