Netherlands to act on petition on slay of Dutch missionary

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – The foreign affairs department of the Netherlands is set to tackle next week the petition signed by some 600 people, 23 organizations and six alliances, mostly Filipino, asking the Dutch government’s help in seeking justice for the killing of a Dutch missionary in this city last July 3.

This, after members of the Dutch-Philippines Solidarity Movement went to the Dutch parliament in the Hague last Nov. 6 to present the case of 67-year-old Dutch missionary Willem Geertman who was killed allegedly by military men in the compound of Alay Bayan Inc., a relief and rehabilitation group which he headed as executive director in Barangay Telabastagan here.

The petition seeking justice for Geertman was also received by Dutch parliament members, including Desiree Bonis of the Labor Party, Jasper van Dijk of the Socialist Party, Pieter Omtzigt of the Christian Democratic Appeal, and Sjoerd Sjoerdsma of D66.

“We hope the Dutch parliament will do whatever they can and pressure the Manila government to bring the perpetrators to the bar of justice. In the immediate, we appeal to the Dutch lawmakers to issue a very strong statement condemning the killing of Geertman,” said Fernando Hicap, national chairman of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya).

Hicap said the signatories asked the Dutch government “to help bring out the truth and attain justice for Geertman.”

“We were told that Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Frans Timmermans will tackle the petition next week,” he said.

Police here have filed homicide and robbery charges against some suspects.

But Geertman’s partner, Aurora Santiago, frowned on the police action and instead filed a murder case against a certain Marvin Marsan, Harold de la Cruz and four John Does.

Hicap said the petitioners also asked the Permanent Commission for Foreign Affairs of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament to seek an “independent probe” on the killing.

Hicap lamented that the police task force formed to handle the killing “is not seriously proceeding with the case.”

The petitioners who went to the Hague to file the petition included Geertman’s partner Aurora Santiago, Aurora Santiago, Theresa Britanico of Alay Bayan, Inc., the victims’s brother Herman Geertmen, Archbishop Joris A.O.L. Vercammen of the Old Catholic Church, Rys de los Santos of the Philippine youth organization Samaka, Ton Groeneweg of Mensen met een Missie (People with a Mission), Angie Gonzales of the International Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, and Theo Droog, chairman of the Dutch-Philippines Solidarity movement.

Meanwhile, Pamalakaya also asked the Dutch parliament and the European Union (EU) to recall its economic aid and other forms of assistance to the Aquino administration for failing to arrest and prosecute the killers of Geertman.

The group was referring to the 10-million Euro “Support Local Government Units for more effective and accountable Public Finance Management,” a project funded by EU slated for implementation by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“The 10-million Euro aid for the Philippine government to improve human rights situation in the country is on top of the 3.9 million Euros the EU had donated in 2009 for the same purpose,” Hicap noted.