Independent probe into bloody Negros Oriental ops needed, groups say

MANILA, Philippines — Calls for an independent investigation into the deaths of 14 people in police operations across Negros Oriental last Saturday continue to mount in the face of statements from the Palace and the police that the deaths were justified.

Human Rights Watch pointed out that the accounts of kin of those slain and of rights groups contradict the government’s narrative that the 14 “fought back” against authorities and were killed in the process.

“Witnesses and relatives dispute the police claims, saying that these were more like ‘drug war’-style killings. Local human rights groups also drew the comparison,” HRW said in a statement.

On Saturday, a report from the Philippine National Police Directorate Police Operations office in Visayas said that eight people were killed in Canlaon City, four in Manjuyod and two in Catalina in Negros Oriental. 

Police General Oscar Albayalde and presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo stressed that the operations were legitimate, as police were serving court-issued search warrants. The 14 who were killed “fought back”, a common explanation for deaths in anti-drug operations.

READ: Palace dismisses rights groups' doubts over Negros Oriental operations

Witnesses' and rights groups said that the 14 killed included farmers and “habal-habal” drivers who did not have enough money to buy guns.

Karapatan said that the oldest of the 14 killed was Melchor Pañares, a 69-year-old farmer. Also killed were Edgardo Avelino, a 59-year-old farmer and Genes Palmares, 54.

“The security forces frequently blur peasant farmers and land reform activists with armed communist rebels to justify attacks on the former,” HRW said.

Congressional probe urged

HRW also recounted that Negros has long been embroiled in violence fuelled by landlessness.

Nine sugarcane workers were killed in Negros Occidental in October 2018 in a shooting incident that the government said was done by communists. Three months later, police gunned down six people in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, HRW recalled.

“Members of the security forces implicated in unlawful killings in Negros have rarely been brought to justice. By playing the ‘self-defense’ card, the authorities will make getting redress for victims even harder,” HRW added.

It called for an impartial and independent investigation into the incidents and urged concerned governments to raise their concerns in the killings.

The Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura has also called for a congressional probe into the killings.

UMA said that the legislative probe should also look into the following points:

• Why were the supposed search warrants served after midnight?
• Why were most of the members of the PNP and military who served said warrants wearing facemasks and other paraphernalia to conceal their identities?
• Judges who issued the warrants and members of security forces who took part in the operations

UMA warned that if the Negros Oriental operations are not investigated, similar operations could lead to more deaths.

“With appropriate assurances, they also might want to offer direct assistance and expertise for an independent investigation.  If the Philippine government allowed such an investigation, it would not be the end of the lawlessness engulfing the country, but it might be a first step in keeping the lawlessness from getting worse,” HRW also said.

Albayalde said that the PNP’s Internal Affair Service is already looking into the incidents, while the Commission on Human Rights has launched its own investigation into the deaths.

Members of Anakpawis and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, meanwhile, trooped to the PNP headquarters at Camp Crame on Tuesday to denounce the killings.

READ: PNP: Negros Oriental operations where 14 died 'not a massacre'

Rep. Ariel Casilao (Anakpawis party-list) slammed Albayalde's "white-washing" attempt at the investigation.

"Natutulog ang mga biktima, lulusubin nila ang mga bahay sa dis-oras ng gabi, kakaladkarin ang mga kaanak palayo, at pagbabarilin sila, ngayon, sinasabi nilang 'nanlaban' sila. Ang tiyak, lumalaban ngayon ang malawak na mamamayan ng Negros Oriental at iba't ibang bahagi ng bansa, kontra sa paghahari ng terorismo ng estado," the lawmaker added.

(The victims were sleeping, they will storm into their homes at late hour, drag their children away and gunned them down, then they will say they fought back. What is sure is that Negros Oriental residents and others in the country are fighting back against the reigning state terrorism.)

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