They vow not to stop crying for justice even as killings in Mindanao do not abate.
Some 500 individuals from all over Mindanao participated in the third Mindanao Human Rights Summit last December 6 at the Green Heights Convention Center in Davao City.
They were human rights violations (HRV) victims; families and relatives of victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances; members of communities in the countryside displaced by militarization; human rights advocates, including church people, professionals and academe; and other support groups.
Convened by Barug Katungod Mindanao consortium and the Ecumenical Bishops Forum-Mindanao, the summit provided a venue for sharing among victims of HRV and families of victims of extrajudicial killings and those who have disappeared without a trace.
Bishop Felixberto Calang, IFI, chair of InPeace Mindanao, said that they intensified the call for state accountability, “kay walay pakialam ang gobyerno.” The group also calls for the prosecution of the Gloria Arroyo regime and condemns the state of impunity under the regime of Benigno Aquino III.
“During the first semester of the Aquino regime, nakita na padayon gihapon ang extrajudicial killings,” he said, noting that 20 cases of extrajudicial killings were recorded while 14 cases were recorded during the same period of the Arroyo regime.
Rather than curbing the culture of impunity, Calang said, the government prioritized programs for internal security. “Resolving extrajudicial killings is not a program of the government,” he added.
He also mentioned that while extending the Oplan Bantay Laya, the Aquino administration redesigned it into 2009 United States Counter-Insurgency (US COIN) program, which according to the group, “is shaping the country’s internal affairs and is carrying out more vicious low intensity conflict.”
“We have known so much military perpetrators. It is always doubtful that the military can curb the human rights issues because they are the perpetrators themselves,” Calang said.
Militarization is still the main form of the government against counter insurgency while doing deceptive activities, said Katribu Partylist National president Beverly Longid, a Bontok-Kankanaey from Mt. Province, Cordillera.
She said even if communities were asking the military to move out from their areas, the latter still continue building para-military groups. “If worse comes to worst, ‘wag tayong magsisihan if the indigenous people will take up arms which is their last defense,” she added.
Reports say that 600,000 Moro internally displaced persons (IDP) were recorded due to the government’s all-out war in 2008. It was the highest record of IDPs in the world. Added to the state of impunity was the massacre of 58 civilians, including media people, in Maguindanao on November 23, 2009.
Responses to human rights violations, which include sanctuaries; legal assistance; psychosocial and medical services; advocacy and capacity-building, among others, were solicited from the participants.
The HRV victims, including families and relatives of those who disappeared, and were killed, shared testimonies during workshops. There were five thematic human rights issues being focused during workshops: extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances; urban militarization and human rights violations; militarization in the countryside; human rights defenders; and, political prisoners.
In cooperation with the Alliance Against Impunity in Mindanao (AIM), Karapatan Alliance Against Peoples Rights; Hustisya!; and SELDA, the summit culminated in a caravan for human rights with candle-lighting for the victims, and a rally to demand state accountability for HRVs in Mindanao, and the country.
Not alone
More than a year has passed since Eliazer Billanes, an environment activist, was killed at a newspaper stand in Koronadal City, South Cotabato. His wife, Emelia, 45, and their three children, renewed their hopes for justice upon sharing their anguish with other families of HRV victims during the summit. [Lorie Ann A. Cascaro]
Wanting to meet other people who are fighting against extrajudicial killings, Billanes said, “Nalipay ko nga naa sila nga nag-uyon. Nagtapok ang mga biktima. Dili lang gali ako lang ang biktima. May ma-sheyran ka, mahibal-an pa ang iban pa (I am happy that other victims gathered here, and that I am not alone. I can share my story to them and listen to theirs as well),” she said.
A staunch advocate against mining operations in Tampakan, Eliazer Billanes, also a member of Alyansa Tigil Mina, was shot dead while buying a newspaper on the sidewalk on March 9, 2009.
Emelia Billanes suspects that those people who have vested interests in mining were responsible for her husband’s killing. She heard stories that Eliazer had been offered from P100,000 up to P1 million in exchange for his silence on mining issues.
“Kampante ko na dili dawaton sa akong bana. Nabarugan gyud niya iyang prinsipyo sa pagpanalipod sa kinaiyahan (I’m confident that my husband did not take the bribe money. He was able to stand by his principle to protect the environment),” she said. Her small “sari-sari” store—her only source of income—had been closed since she lost her Eliazer.
She has not filed a case before the court against the perpetrator due to lack of witnesses. The newspaper vendor is nowhere to be found. The National Bureau of Investigation told her to file a complaint in case a suspect is identified. She has not been able to do so. Although representatives of the Commission on Human Rights visited her in barangay Mabini twice, she says there has been no development.
Nevertheless, Billanes, along with her children, continues seeking justice for Eliazer by joining forces with other victims and human rights advocates.
“Kung mounding na ang mining sa Tampakan, hustisya na na sa ako kay dili na man makita ang tao na nagpatay sa akong bana (Should mining operations in Tampakan cease, I will consider it as justice for my husband even if his assassin can no longer be found),” she said.
