On Ate Beng’s 33rd birthday Atenews staffers lament slow justice

Ten years since her killing by alleged elements of the military in Arakan, North Cotabato, Beng Hernandez’ colleagues from Atenews, the official student publication of Ateneo de Davao University, continue to cry for justice. On the occasion of her birthday, a candle-lighting ceremony will be held inside the university. Members of the staff of Atenews lament the snail-paced turn of the wheels of justice for Hernandez and all other victims of political killings.
“Today, Nov.21, Ate Beng would have been 33 years old. Justice is still denied for the family, friends and fellow writers of our student martyr, Ate Beng. We are very disappointed that under the three years of President Benigno Aquino III not one of the killers has been prosecuted, ” said Almira Jane Villegas, Deputy Secretary General for Mindanao of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines.
Benjaline “Beng” Hernandez was the previous Features Editor of Atenews, Vice-President for Mindanao of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines, and later Deputy Secretary General of the human rights group Karapatan-Southern Mindanao. On April 5, 2002, Hernandez was gunned down along with three other companions by alleged members of the Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) under Master Sergeant Antonio Torilla of the 7th Airborne Battalion of the 12th Special Forces Company of the Philippine Army in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato. Hernandez was in the area to follow up the documentation of a massacre that happened the previous year, also in Arakan Valley.
The government, particularly the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration, was found accountable for the death of Hernandez and colleagues by the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The Philippine government was a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in January 1986..
UNHRC found the Philippine government guilty of violating Article 6 of the Covenant which states: “Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.”
Villegas, the current News Editor of ATENEWS said that so long as the perpetrators of political killings remain scot-free the culture of impunity in the country will remain.“
Villegas also said that they are proud to be part of ATENEWS which was able to produce a brave writer.
“Ate Beng, will always be an inspiration to us and we vow to search for genuine social justice,” Villegas said.

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