They have taken Benjie Bayles Stop them from taking Fred Caña

Last June 14, 2010, Benjamin “Benjie” Bayles was killed in Negros Occidental. He was the 1,200th victim of what is seen a military campaign against civic society activists. Yet his case is different. For the first time, the suspects were arrested by the police. A dirty game is going on now. There military pressures to get their men out of prison. Civic society group do not want it to happen and organize protest actions and information campaigns. A dangerous scenario is building up against Fred Caña of Karapatan Negros Occidental. His killers may already out for him …This article sheds light on backgrounds and developments.

Human Rights Violations and the National Power Structure. Shortly before the inauguration of President Benigno Aquino III, local and international human rights activists were stunned by the increase in extra-judicial killings (EJKs). Benjamnin “Benjie” Bayles was just one of them. He was killed June 14, 2010, in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental. During the first nine days under the new Aquino administration, five more EJKs occurred. Although the victims were selected from amidst the usual circles of civic society groups, the masterminds had delivered a message not to these groups but to the new president. A blunt and cynical demonstration of power, it was. There is the notion that Aquino deserves the chance of working towards a better human rights situation. Yes, of course, he does. But we need to be specific and have to point out that said chance does neither allow the new government for an EJK handicap nor, with particular regards to human rights, for a political honeymoon. Human dignity is categorical and not disposable. Being the core of the human rights canon, this is the strict, exclusive and immediate benchmark to be applied on the human rights conduct of any new administration.

Complying with these standards requires a strong and clear cut government leadership. There are hints that Aquino is lacking actual authority for this task. It was speculated a while that the new government may be ready for peace talks. However, it is not Aquino but the generals who are claiming power for defining strategies, policies and time frames.

Military vs. Civic Leadership. A few months ago, both US President Obama and German Minister of Defense Von Guttenberg dismissed high ranking military personnel because the latter, in separated incidents, went out on a limb. Explicitly stressing civilian control over the military’s chain of command, Obama restored nothing less than the primacy of politics. Whether or not the generals’ statements were correct is not the point. It was all about this fundamental principle of civic control over armed forces. Within Philippine society, the same basic principle is structurally distorted.

Shortly after President Aquino’s inauguration, the likewise newly appointed AFP chief of staff Lieutenant General Ricardo David dared to give a time frame for the proposed crushing of the country’s rural insurgency. Clearly, this is none of a general’s competences.

David was challenging the president and snatched what he is believing to be AFP’s share in executive authority. And he got away with it. He was not dismissed nor being told where his limits are. The casting is not new, we’ve seen that before. Already the president’s mother, Corazon Aquino, during her term of office had to bend with the military and eventually punished intimidating coup plotters to do push-ups.

No doubt, in the Philippines the configuration of power is complex. The president cannot just simply retreat to legal positions because, long since, due constitutional organs practically abandoned the civic concept of separation of powers. Under the impression of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, we conclude that the real centers of power are held by families and clans who derive their power from ownership of, and control over, land. Having almost complete control over their regions’ votes, clans eventually determine who amongst them is governing the country. In Philippine elite politics, political programs are meaningless.

Traditional parties are nothing but platforms for loose family alliances. Therefore, the tremendous number of more than 1,200 EJKs, numerous other awesome human rights violations, the plunder of public funds, and the blunt corruption and nepotism, as experienced under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, on the analytical level must not be credited (solely) to the criminal energy of the former president. Rather, it is important to focus on systemic distortions Popular Sovereignty Merely an Option Is this conclusion strong enough for taking as granted that the situation will not change under the administration of Benigno Aquino? No! But he could continue – at the same risks – where his predecessor stopped. And that is the crucial point. The basically feudal character of Philippine society becomes manifest also in the president’s practical options of running –or not running – his office constitutionally aligned to and along legal requirements.

Both chambers constitutionally mandated of controlling the executive branch, the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives, are heavily dominated by delegates with traditional political elite backgrounds. The overwhelming majority of them spent election campaign funds that are a good deal bigger than their entire remuneration over a complete term of office. And no cheap stereotype, they had run for office because it is an accepted source of enrichment. Moreover, if Aquino actually is determined to lead the country to the rule of law and the spirit of the constitution then he must turn precisely against the interests of the political elite --- the interest of his allies and power base, that is! These thoughts in mind, we do not want to imply that those expecting something like a moral redemption from Aquino’s presidency must be naive altogether. But definitely they need to be rather optimistic. Frankly, we are not sure if we can share their enthusiasm.

Coming back to the Bayles case, the arrest of the suspects by the Kabankalan police appears to be the result of a ‘lack of communication’ between the AFP and the PNP. Luckily, the police officers simply did not know whom they were pursuing. When the context of the killing became apparent after the arrest, the PNP started to display reluctance and inertia. If not for the work of civic groups, witnesses would not have been spotted and the prime witness would not have identified the suspects as those two men who committed the crime. The military denied that the suspects are members of the AFP. Yet they tried to get them out of prison and generated pressure towards their release. There are strong clues that the suspects did not reveal their true names and identities. Original police responsibility includes putting together jigsaw pieces of information and professionally following traces and details. But again, it was up to the same civic society groups to collect the information that led to knowledge on who the suspects actually are There are two important case-related developments that emphasize how politically explosive the Bayles case actually is.

Firstly, in the Bayles case the ballistic examination of the guns seized by the police and the slugs taken from the victims cadaver are crucial. Human rights advocates expressed their concerns that they fear possible manipulation of evidences. Meanwhile, the results are out. And indeed, the ballistic examination and the paraffin tests in this case returned negative results. Civic society groups are not surprised by these findings.  Secondly, Larry Trinidad of Radio Mindanao Network and Jaime Lim, a Bacolod-based journalist, are reported of receiving death threats for having indicated the involvement of the military in the killing of Benjie Bayles.3: The military’s pressure on Fred Caña, KARAPATAN Negros Occidental, may be of help for completing the picture of the repressive and aggressive atmosphere within which human rights advocacy is taking place. Fred Caña is kept under surveillance. He is followed when leaving the house or office; he is followed when travelling. Military agents approached Caña’s relatives and pressured them to convince him of stopping his human rights advocacy work. Moreover, the military uses the same channel for continuously asking him for a meeting to discuss ways and modes of cooperation. Military circles repeatedly denounced Caña to be a supporter and recruiter of the underground NPA. The scenario very much resembles the situation preceding the EJKs of Bayles and other civic society activists. It is dangerous indeed. There is ample reason to be concerned about his safety and life.

Human Rights Violations and Counter-Insurgency in Negros. The situation in Negros remains complex. Fighting an enemy who is largely invisible, the military tends to perceive civic emancipation processes as subversive undertakings.

Already a self-organizing attempt of a community is risky. The military is unable to distinguish between legitimate structures that are off the control or influence of traditional – and frequently unconstitutional – power centers, on the one hand, and structures of the underground movement, on the other hand. To them, it is all the same. And even worse: The military guards and aggressively enforces corporate and clan interests under the cloak of counter-insurgency up to the very point of taking over corporate security functions. This becomes particularly visible in mining areas.

Furthermore, deep-rooted redscare reflexes within and outside the government support and perpetuate this particular configuration and abuse of power. Considerable segments of the administration and the society are seen as having a questionable stance towards human rights violations and the perpetrators of the same. Military and political circles openly or covertly tend to indicate that victims of EJKs and other human rights violations were/are enemies of the state and, thus, were/are legitimate targets. Consequently, the people on the ground experience a constant neglect of their concerns and very rights. This invariably leads into a process of further estrangement between the people and those structures and organizational bodies that are supposed to advocate, serve and protect.

Human Rights Advocacy. In the Western Visayas human rights violations are a reality and rampant. They reflect a specific configuration of political power and are, not least, means towards both economic group and corporate domination. Advocacy work necessarily needs to consider and relate to this. Human rights violations aim at excluding the victims – and thus are an instrument of disempowerment so to say. They ultimately deprive the population of fundamental rights such as political, social and economic participation. Land issues and economic conflicts obviously build the background of EJKs, enforced disappearances, evictions and other grave crimes committed by the state and agents of the state or which are tolerated by the state. A policy instrument, human rights violations are committed strategically in the sense of targeting those sectors and communities that have developed or are developing strong and independent civic structures.

Ultimately, genuine development and empowerment go together. Development is nothing to be given or rendered. Rather, it is a dynamic process of emancipation. In rural Negros, the landless population, small farmers and artisan fisherfolks unconditionally need to be the prime actors in a people-led approach. It follows, that the rural poor as victims of human rights violations themselves need to carry actions and protests against the same crimes in a pro-active, people-led manner. Fact finding missions (FFMs) are an example for this approach.

4. FFMs are ad hoc response actions to particular human rights violations. FFMs are composed of civic society activists and the rural poor population. The objective is to document human rights violations by collecting data, evidences and recording victims’ as well as witnesses’ reports on particular incidents. An action research method is applied. That is, monitoring and documentation are part of a learning process on the side of the participants. FFMs are very effective because they help in putting hinterland human rights violations to the public eye. And exactly for this reason, the military tries to intimidate participants of FFMs. If this does not work, they do not shy away from killing those who coordinate FFMs as in the case of Benjie Bayles.

Now they target on Fred Caña. Stop them!

August 11, 2010: Prepared by PDG