Dear fellow agrarian reform and human rights advocates:

Shalom!

Please find attached the joint statement by the UNORKA, PEACE
Foundation, Progreso and PARRDS statement on the PNP and PIA
Statement on the Hernando Baria Slay by elements of RIID in the
Province of Iloilo, Philippines

Sincerely,

BELINDA L.FORMAMES

PARRDS

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Ugnayan ng mga Nagsasariling Lokal na Organisasyon sa Kanayunan (UNORKA-Pilipinas) ? Philippine Ecumenical Action for Community Empowerment Foundation (PEACE) ? Partnership for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development Services (PARRDS) ? Panay Rural Organizing for Reform and Social Order (PROGRESO)

Press Statement

19 January 2007

CONTACT PERSONS: Apolonio Pacardo, UNORKA (438-9762): Diosdado calmada (438-9762); Belinda Formanes , UNORKA (926-1153) and PROGRESO Executive Director Lirio Cordova (0918-357-0129)

 PNP VIOLATED THE LAW IN THE HERANDO BARIA CASE

This article is a reaction to the statement made by the Philippine National Police (PNP) denying any foul play or human rights violations in the death of Iloilo farmer-leader Hernando Baria and the wounding of fellow CARP beneficiary Romeo Catalan which occurred on 23 July 2005 at 1:00AM in Sitio Asao, Barangay Lawis in the town of Balasan, Iloilo.

In a press release issued [See below] by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) on 12 January 2007 entitled PNP Clarifies Case of Herman (sic) Baria Before Asian Human Rights Commission, Police Chief Superintendent Geary Barias stated that the above-mentioned incident was a “legitimate police operation” and that the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division (RIID)—which carried out the operation—had a search warrant for both Baria and Catalan.

This warrant, the PNP claimed, was “issued by the Regional Trial Court, Branch 66 at Barotac Viejo, Iloilo.” The Superintendent also cited the affidavit executed by Barangay Kagawad Henry Roxas which corroborated the RIID’s claim.

The release further said that, “the police operation was a response to the request for protection by local residents against harassment by armed groups of landowner Susan Bedio (sic). Information that the local folks had provided led to the operation against Hernan Baria and Romeo Catalan.”

Such statements from Superintendent Barias, however, are problematic at best.

A Search Warrant Full of Holes

If the search warrant was only followed to the letter, then the police raiding team had no right to accost Baria in the first place; for the person indicated in the said document was a certain “Herman Baria” and not Hernando Baria.

Moreover, the search warrant that was issued by the RTC clearly stipulated that the place to be searched was the respective abodes of Baria and Catalan. Yet the RIID, for some unknown reason, instead proceeded to the farmers’ sustainable agriculture training center. The said training center had no walls, and its back portion was only covered by a blue “trapal.”

Moreover, there was a clear excessive use of force. There were approximately 30 persons in the raiding team, composed of RIID police officers, barangay kagawads, and goons of alleged landowner and former Vice Mayor Susan Bedro. Worse, the raid was done at midnight, and the RIID officers failed to identify themselves. It was as if a group of unidentified armed men sneaked to the training center and pulled their triggers, aiming their guns at hapless farmers.

These details make the entire affair questionable; and this is aggravated by the fact that Superintendent Barias has chosen Kagawad Roxas’ affidavit to buttress his claim despite the fact that the latter has long been Bedro’s party-mate and political ally.

The RIID also failed to provide a copy of the warrant, even though Baria’s friends and organizational colleagues had already arrived in the area by 3:00AM. In fact, the police was not able to show the warrant until after 9:00AM—eight (8) hours after the alleged raid and five hours (4:00AM) after Baria was pronounced dead while he was being taken to a hospital in Capiz.

Farmers Requesting for Protection, Shot and Violated Instead

Moreover, while the PNP claims that the said operation was in response to the farmers’ request that they be protected from the harassment of the alleged landowner, several witnesses have attested that prior to the operation, members of the RIID were seen in Bedro’s house. These witnesses also claimed that these police officers were apparently drinking with Bedro’s goons in celebration of the eve of the town fiesta before proceeding to the said operation.

But apart from these inconsistencies found in the PNP’s alleged “clarification,” the statement is an attempt to mislead the public when it said that, “the police operation was a response to the request for protection by local residents against harassment by armed groups of (the) landowner…(which) led to the operation against Hernan Baria and Romeo Catalan.”

With this statement, the PNP and Superintendent Barias in particular, are implying that Baria and Catalan are part of Bedro’s armed coterie, when in fact, they have been at the receiving end of Bedro’s constant harassments. Furthermore, Barias and Catalan are bona fide members of the Asao Farmers and Residents Association (AFRA) which was the very organization that lobbied the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to place Bedro’s landholdings under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

If the PNP thinks that Baria and Catalan are part of Bedro’s private army, then they are dead wrong. In fact, they are just two (2) of Sitio Asao’s residents and CARP beneficiaries who have continuously requested for police protection—to the extent of establishing an army and/or police detachment to thwart the violence perpetrated by Bedro’s goons.

Other Violations of Rules of Engagement

The PNP’s further allegation that the training center was “well protected with sandbags and trenches” is also pure nonsense, for the sandbag that was there is of no protection in the event of an armed encounter, and the trenches that they saw were typical in any farming area. Moreover, the hand grenade, .38 caliber revolver and other high-powered firearms, which the PNP claimed was recovered from Baria were all planted evidence.

Superintendent Barias also claimed that Baria and his wife Jovita were arrested after the raiding team gave them chase. However, several witnesses have stated that the RIID did not budge from their position, and that the couple was only recovered at 3:00AM by PNP-Balasan, two hours after the raid began. They further said that Baria and Jovita were found along the barangay road, 350 meters away from the training center. If the RIID did indeed gave chase, why would it take them two hours just to overtake a seriously wounded man who was just 350 meters and visible to them?

Another inconsistency was also discovered in the PNP’s own seizure report when it reported that Catalan was “not around” when the search was conducted; yet the PIA-PNP statement explicitly indicated that the operation resulted in the “wounding of Romeo Catalan,” with the latter now “facing charges for illegal possession of firearms and armed resistance against the authorities.” This then leads us to ask: If charges were indeed filed, how come Catalan has never received any summons or case documents?

Worse, this situation has resulted in a terrible security problem for Catalan who is a legitimate CARP beneficiary. Ironically, beneficiaries like Catalan, who should be protected by the PNP, have now become the targets of “legitimate police operations.”

What all these indicate is that the PNP, and the RIID in particular, have violated the law when they served an erroneous search warrant, when they failed to follow the rules of engagement, and when they targeted legitimate farmer-beneficiaries instead of Bedro and his armed goons.

In more concrete terms, the PNP violated the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed on 3 May 1995. In the said document, “the DILG, through the Philippine National Police,” is mandated “to render assistance to the DAR in the maintenance of peace and order and other activities attendant to the effective implementation of the CARP.” This obligation was again reiterated in DAR-DILG-DND Joint Circular No. 05-02.

As a result of the PNP’s failure to carry out its responsibilities, Bedro and her goons remain unhampered in their binge of violence, which continue up to this day. AFRA President Ronald Ocson, for instance, was shot in the leg last 30 October 2006, and residents experience almost nightly strafing from the goons. And such violence continues to occur despite the residents and DAR’s continuous request for protection and the establishment of a police detachment.

At least the police got one thing straight: they are there to supposedly protect the farmers. The fate of Baria and Catalan, however, indicates that the farmers are left on their own, and they are almost totally defenseless against the violence perpetrated by Bedro and her goons—thanks to the toleration (if not outright collusion) of the PNP.

With this in mind, we demand from the government the following:

• ensure the peaceful possession of the Asao farmers’ allotted farm-lots;

• guarantee that Baria, Catalan, Ocson and other victims of agrarian-related human rights violations will attain justice, and that the mastermind and perpetrators of this continuing violence in Asao will be apprehended and placed behind bars;

• dismantle and disarm all armed goons being maintained by landowners;

• establish an Inter-agency Task Force to help implement CARP implementation and secure human rights;

• for the PNP to conduct an impartial investigation on the alleged raid against Baria and Catalan and determine why the officers involved did not follow the rules of engagement; and

• for the DOJ to provide these farmers with legal protection, and exhaust all means in dismissing the cases filed against them.

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PIA Press Release

2007/01/12

 PNP clarifies case of Herman Baria before Asian Human Rights Commission

Quezon City (12 January) — Police Chief Superintendent Geary L.

Barias issued a statement clarifying the issues raised by Ms Kim Soo,
programme coordinator, Urgent Appeals Programme of the Asian Human
Rights Commission based in Hongkong. Chief Superintendent Barias
strongly denied allegations of human rights violation in the death of
Hernan Baria and wounding of Romeo Catalan of Brgy Lawis, Balasan,
Iloilo on July 23, 2005.

The PNP statement said: "Baria and Catalan were the objectives of a
legitimate police operation arising from verified reports that the
two men have in their residences a stockpile of high powered firearms
and explosives."

Following is the rest of statement:

Responding to the request of the concerned police authorities in
Region 6, a search warrant was issued by the Regional Trial Court,
Branch 66 at Barotac Viejo, Iloilo. Intelligence operatives of RIID,
PRO 6 coordinated with Balasan Police Station and with the officials
of Brgy Lawis, Balasan, Iloilo before implementing the search
warrant. This was attested to by Kagawad Henry Roxas in an affidavit
he had executed to clear the issues raised by interested parties on this case.

Another allegation was the indiscriminate firing before the actual
operation was conducted. This was false allegation raised by Ms Kim
Soo’s letter. The truth was when the police operatives reached the
compound cum camp of Hernan Baria and Romeo Catalan, they positioned
themselves strategically before SPO1 X M Yap approached the house of
Hernan Baria to serve the search warrant. While passing beside a nipa
hut, shots rang out hitting Yap instantly. The team returned fire to
cover the fallen officer. Thereafter, they saw persons running in the
rice field at the back of the house. In the ensuing chase, they
arrested Hernan Baria and his wife Jovita Baria. Hernan Baria and
SPO1 X M Yap were brought to the hospital but Baria was declared dead
on arrival by the attending physician.

Subsequent inspection of the house of Hernan Baria and Romeo Catalan
showed that it was well protected with sand bags and trenches. The
police officers recovered one hand grenade, several live ammunitions
for .12 gauge shotgun and .38 cal revolver and several spent
cartridges of .12 gauge shotguns.

This police operation was a response to the request for protection by
local residents against harassment by armed groups of land owner
Susan Bedio. Information that the local folks had provided led to the
operation against Hernan Baria and Romeo Catalan with the latter now
facing charges for illegal possession of firearms and armed
resistance against the authorities.

To clear his name from allegations that the Asian Human Rights
Commission has leveled against them, RIID Intelligence Operatives led
by PINSP Esperidion Biado III have willed themselves to face the
charges forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas.
The letter of Ms Kim Soo was clearly a misrepresentation of
information. Verifiable facts are that Police Regional Office 6 has
performed their functions in accordance with established procedures
of police work and investigative responsibilities.

Links:
http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=12&fi=p070112.htm&no=75