Gilbert Rey “Jing” Cardino was abducted at around 11 a.m. today at Crossing, Barrio 2, Koronadal City. At 27, he is the youngest member of Bayan Muna’s national council. House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo quickly denounced the abduction and demanded that the military, whom he suspected of being behind the kidnapping, surface Cardino. Joel Virador, also a Bayan Muna congressman, urged Arroyo to order the military and the police to stop these enforced disappearances. “Without such an explicit, publicly stated order, more activists will either be killed or abducted,” Virador said.
According to Senator Joker Arroyo, the military has lobbied for the junking in the House of Representatives of a bill that seeks to compensate victims of human rights violations during the Marcos dictatorship. The military, Arroyo said, fears that the money would just go to insurgents and rebel groups.
In a privilege speech Monday, Arroyo said the military’s lobbying “demeans and mocks the legislative process” because it shows that the “military can throw a monkey wrench even at the tail-end of congressional work.”
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They’re urging for independent autopsy of Grecil’s remains, particularly since there were traces of powder burns on the child’s head — an indication that she may have been shot at close range, the groups said.
The CHR, according to Kabiba, is passing the burden of proof to the victim and is trying to vindicate human-rights violators. It added that the CHRs conclusion — that Grecil died in a crossfire during a legitimate encounter — “is actually inconclusive because the CHR did not actually employ scientific and defensible probing methods like the conduct of autopsy.
Lack of Merit? Grecil’s parents, shown here during a press conference in Manila in April, have also filed charges against the soldiers before the courts and the ombudsman. (Photo by arkibongbayan.org)
