A Cordillera human rights group criticized the Witness Protection Program of the government as it expressed outrage over the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration for the dismissal of the murder charges filed against an army captain identified as the killer of Jose Pepe Manegdeg.
BY KIM QUITASOL AND ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 14 May 13-19, 2007
BAGUIO CITY (246 kms. north of Manila) The Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) criticized the Witness Protection Program of the government as it expressed outrage over the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration for the dismissal of the murder charges filed against an army captain identified as the killer of Jose Pepe Manegdeg.
Lawyer Randy Kinaud, CHRA secretary-general sympathizes with the sole witness in the case, who retracted his sworn statement due to the weakness of the Witness Protection Program.
Despite the Ilocos Sur provincial prosecutors dismissal of the case, Kinaud pointed out that the CHRA will exhaust all means to gather more evidence and witnesses that would lead to the resolution of the murder.
CHRA deputy secretary-general Imelda Tabiando said the witness executed statements in 2006 but was not offered a concrete protection program. She added that the witness expressed fear for his life before he retracted his statement last March 7.
(There may be) witnesses to political killings (but) if the government does not have a concrete witness protection program to offer, witnesses really fear for their lives and choose to keep quiet, Tabiando stressed.
She added that Manegdegs case was the first among the recent political killings in this region where a suspect was identified. It could have been the first case to be resolved, she added.
We cannot conceal our rage against this regime, which continues to condemn extra-judicial killings and call for justice yet, endlessly attack leaders of progressive organizations and church workers, and deny justice to the victims, a CHRA statement read.
The murder case against Capt. Joel Castro of the 50th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army was dismissed on March 30 but Tabiando said CHRA just received the notice in May. She explained the case was dismissed primarily because the witness retracted his statement positively identifying Castro as the killer of Manegdeg.
Manegdeg was the Ilocos regional coordinator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) when he was killed in San Esteban, Ilocos Sur (363 kms. north of Manila) in 2005.
What has become of the murder case against Castro is a defining proof that the military under the command of GMA has done all its tactics to white-wash and cover-up the assassination of Manegdeg, the CHRA stated. This is a clear portrayal of the culture of impunity being imposed upon our society along with the political killings.
Tabiando said that political killings and the culture of impunity are outlined in the GMA administration’s Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL), the state policy to neutralize members and leaders of progressive groups critical of the government. She added that the present administration is hell-bent on silencing the growing peoples opposition to her anti-people policies and programs despite international condemnation.
We are under a de facto martial rule, Tabiando said. Thus, all the more that we call on the people to rage against the injustice and human rights violations. Let us not rest until justice is served and the fascist GMA regime is ousted along with her allies. Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat
