“The appalling inhumanity of the State does not end with their gruesome, extrajudicial killings: they continue to deny the remains of their victims from death to funeral while putting their families to the torturous experience and misery of having to beg on their knees for the remains of their own loved ones.”
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
MANILA – Victimized twice over.
This is how Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan described the plight of families of four individuals who were killed in what is now known as Bloody Sunday.
It took four days before police and military finally released of the remains of urban poor activists Melvin Dasigao and Mark Lee Corros Bacasno, and the Dumagat farmers Puroy Dela Cruz, and Randy Dela Cruz.
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You Are Here:Home → 2021 → January → 7 → Rights group slams military for lying about Baras massacre victims
Rights group slams military for lying about Baras massacre victims
Policemen block the paralegal team’s exit from the funeral home where Salabao’s remains are located. (Photo courtesy of Karapatan-ST)
“Is [Año] justifying the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] and PNP’s [Philippine National Police] massacre of five farm workers and caretakers? The mutilated genitals and broken fingers of Jhonatan and Niño Alberga? Is he justifying how the PNP Baras and the AFP’s 2nd Infantry Division are fermenting Vilma Salabao’s remains and continued refusal to turn them over to her family after three weeks, seven requests, and superficial requirements?”
KARAPATAN / MANILA BULLETIN
According to Karapatan, the Baras Municipal Police Station has refused to release Vilma Salabao’s remains to her bereaved family.
Salabao was one of five farm workers in a private mango farm in Barangay San Juan who had been tagged as communist rebels and shot dead by authorities.
The group identified the other slain farm workers based on morgue records as Wesley Obmerga, Carlito Zonio, and Jhonatan and Niño Alberga.
They were killed when joint police and military operatives went to the area to serve the warrant of arrest against Antonio Cule, an alleged finance officer of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippine (CPP).
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You Are Here:Home → 2020 → December → 30 → Rizal police continue to hostage remains of slain farm worker
Rizal police continue to hostage remains of slain farm worker
Karapatan ST’s humanitarian team negotiates for the release of Vilma Salabao’s remains with PNP Baras investigators. (Photo courtesy of Karapatan-ST)
“We continue to condemn the AFP-PNP’s modus operandi of hostaging remains and burying under lies the truth about what really happened to these five civilians,” Karapatan ST said.
By JUSTIN UMALI
SANTA ROSA, Laguna – It has been over ten days since Vilma Salabao was slain in sitio Malalim, barangay San Jose, Baras, Rizal province, but police are not keen on allowing her daughter to claim her remains.
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You Are Here:Home → 2020 → December → 24 → 5 killed in Rizal ‘encounter’ were farm workers, not NPA fighters – rights group
5 killed in Rizal ‘encounter’ were farm workers, not NPA fighters – rights group
By JUSTIN UMALI
SANTA ROSA, Laguna – The five people killed by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) 2nd Infantry Division on Dec. 17 in Baras, Rizal were not members of the revolutionary New People’s Army (NPA) but civilian farm workers, according to human rights watchdog Karapatan Southern Tagalog.
The group said the military is still refusing to hand over the remains of the three of the five slain to their families.