NPA tags gov't, Army officials in abduction of Luing and Nilo
Communist rebels on Panay Island have issued arrest orders against President Macapagal Arroyo, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and a military official previously held captive by the rebels for the abduction of two leaders of militant organizations on the island.
In an e-mailed statement issued on International Human Rights Day yesterday, the Coronacion Chiva "Waling-Waling" Command, said the President, Gonzales and Lt. Col. Noel Buan are among those "indicted" in the rebel's "people's court" for the abduction of Ma. Luisa Posa-Dominado and Nilo Arado.
"All units of the NPA in Panay are ordered to arrest these accused and present them to the People's Court to face the charges against them. We give notice to the public that these accused are armed and dangerous so any information about them must be provided to the proper authorities of the revolutionary movement and the public must keep away from their company to avoid getting involved in the crossfire," said the rebel command's spokesperson, Julian Paisano, in the statement.
Also named as targets for arrest were Maj. Gen. Jovenal Narcise, commander of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, Col. Mariano Perez, former head of the 6thMilitary Intelligence Battalion, Capt. Lowen Gil Marquez, head of the Civil Relation Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Western Visayas and Demetrio "Hugo" Capilastique, regional commander of the breakaway Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade.
Paisano said the officials were primarily responsible for the abduction of Dominado and Arado.
The two activists have remained missing after unidentified heavily armed men waylaid their vehicle and forcibly took them on April 12 this year in Barangay Cabanbanan in Oton town in Iloilo.
Dominado was the spokesperson of the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (Selda) while Arado headed the regional chapter of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.
Paisano said Buan was involved in the creation of "death squads" that are targeting leaders of militant organizations and underground movement in Panay. He alleged that Buan was in Panay a few days before the two activists were abducted.
Buan was held captive for 16 months by NPA guerrillas in Southern Luzon until he was released in April 2001. He was commander of the elite First Scout Ranger Battalion (FSRB) that suffered casualties in a rebel ambush while assigned on Panay Island.
Paisano accused Marquez of "inciting" the murder and abduction of activists by continuously branding them as "fronts" of the NPA.
Marquez dismissed the statement as "black propaganda."
"The NPA are responsible for these abductions and killings but blame them on the AFP and the government," Marquez said in a telephone interview. (See related story)
Narcise, who commands Army troops in Western and Central Visayas, had earlier denied any involvement in the abduction, saying they were only after armed elements of the Left and not unarmed activities
He has also offered a P100,000 cash reward for the location and recovery of the two victims.
United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Philip Alston has blamed the spate of killings and abduction of activists on the military's practice of tagging militant organizations as "communist fronts."
"In some areas, the leaders of leftist organizations are systematically hunted down by interrogating and torturing those who may know their whereabouts, and they are often killed following a campaign of individual vilification designed to instill fear into the community'" said Alston in the summary of his 66-page report that will be submitted to the 8th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) early next year.