2 Army soldiers tagged as suspects in Luisita slay

Police are eyeing two Army soldiers as "probable suspects" in the killing of Hacienda Luisita labor union leader Ricardo Ramos, the lead police investigator told The STAR yesterday.

Left-wing activists, meanwhile, pressed yesterday for the relief of Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, who they suspect of carrying out a military-backed campaign against leftists.

The two soldiers, identified only as Privates First Class Rhoderick de la Cruz and Romeo Castillo Jr., are with the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Division, which is under Palparan’s command.

"We are gathering more evidence, and should we be able to gather enough, we will be filing the appropriate charges against them on the first working day after All Saints’ Day," said Senior Superintendent Perfecto Palad, who heads a task force that is conducting the investigation.

Ramos’ relatives and neighbors said the two soldiers were seen in the neighborhood looking for Ramos a few days before the union leader was gunned down in his backyard last Tuesday night by a sniper.

Palad emphasized that the two soldiers are not under Palparan’s direct command and that they have yet to establish if the general, who had been accused of assassinations and human rights violations in the past, was directly involved in Ramos’ murder.

"Palparan is the commander of the 7th Division, which has under it a brigade commander, the battalion commander, the company commander and then the platoon leader," Palad explained.

Lt. Col. Preme Monta, spokesman for the military’s Northern Luzon Command, assured the police of its "full support and cooperation" in the case.

"We are duty-bound to support and cooperate with any investigation," Monta said.

The military is not conducting a separate investigation as the Ramos killing is a "law enforcement concern" and therefore a responsibility of the police, he added.

Yesterday, the military pulled out its 18 troops stationed in Mapalacsiao to help speed up the investigation following a police request.

"They had to be moved out because of reports that people there, including possible witnesses, were being intimidated by their presence at their detachment at Mapalacsiao. We just want to be fair," Palad said.

Several military outposts were established in Hacienda Luisita, a sprawling sugar plantation owned by the family of former President Corazon Aquino, after a clash broke out in November between police and striking sugar mill workers.

Ramos had led the strike. Three sugar mill workers were killed and at least 16 others, including three police officers, were injured.

Superintendent Salvador Manga, the regional officer of the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said they have already asked the Northern Luzon Command and Palparan to submit the two soldiers for questioning.

They have also written the commanding officer of the two soldiers asking that they be ordered to cooperate with the investigation.

Manga stressed that De la Cruz and Castillo are not yet considered suspects and no one has identified either of them as the triggerman.

The two are said to be with the 7th Division’s so-called Special Operations team.

Leftists allege that Ramos is the latest victim in a series of high-profile killings of left-wing activists that human rights advocates charge is part of a military-backed campaign.

Yesterday, dozens of left-wing activists picketed the main gate of Camp Aguinaldo to demand the ouster of Palparan.

"This is worse than martial law. In a span of 24 hours, five people were killed," said Marie Hilao-Enriquez, secretary-general of Karapatan, one of the three left-wing groups that picketed the military’s main headquarters.

The other two were Bayan Muna and Anakpawis. Both are parties represented in the House of Representatives.

Five other left-wing activists were murdered a day after Ramos was gunned down.

Francisco Rivera, a Bayan Muna member, and two close friends were gunned down by a group of armed men while jogging near his home in Angeles City, Pampanga.

Also last Wednesday, Anakpawis member Federico de Leon was shot dead in Malolos, Bulacan. He was also a member of Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide, a jeepney drivers’ and operators’ union.

"If you are suspected to be a communist, they will kill you. They don’t make the distinction between the armed and the unarmed," Enriquez said.

The protesters sent a letter to Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz pressing for Palparan’s relief.

"We are alarmed by the recent spate of killings of leaders and supporters of Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and other people’s organizations as well as the killings of their members," their letter read.

"As secretary of national defense, we ask you to conduct thorough investigations into these killings, especially as members of the armed forces are being alleged as (the) perpetrators."

Palparan had been reassigned twice after human rights advocates, local officials and lawmakers accused him of grave human rights atrocities. He was assigned to Central Luzon in September. He was passed over for promotion earlier this year after opposition from the leftist legislators.

President Arroyo had ordered a speedy investigation into the spate of killings.

Malacañang officials said it might even be possible that communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were responsible.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, a former military general, said "it is to their advantage that the situation should deteriorate to put the blame on the administration for not being able to put things in order."

Central Luzon regional police chief Alejandro Lapinid had hinted that rival leftist groups might have carried out the killing because Ramos was working to resolve the strike with Hacienda Luisita.

"They were reaching an agreement with Hacienda Luisita, a resolution to the problem so it could have been that their comrades on the sidelines who did not want a resolution would have a motive to do this," Lapinid told a radio interview.

The strikers were demanding better wages and the reinstatement of more than 300 laid-off colleagues, including union leaders.

Former President Aquino is not involved in the management of the sprawling plantation. The management and union were close to a settlement after Hacienda Luisita paid the workers’ back wages.

Communist rebels have denied any involvement.

In a statement issued to the media, the Communist Party of the Philippines blamed the killings on the "murderous Arroyo regime and its fascist attack dogs." The NPA is the CPP’s armed wing. Both are considered terrorist organizations by the United States.

"These continual killings are desperate acts of the Arroyo regime to silence the people and cow them into submitting to its illegitimate, corrupt, rotten and terroristic rule," CPP spokesman Gregorio Rosal said in the statement.

Rosal claimed that documents seized by NPA guerrillas in clashes with the military "explicitly direct its units, through the AFP Intelligence Service, to fulfill a quota of progressive leaders to be ‘neutralized’ — an AFP euphemism to mean killing." — With Ric Sapnu, Jaime Laude, Cesar Ramirez