US embassy cable - 05MANILA1401

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 001401 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/PMBS, DRL, DRL/CRA, INR/EAP 
NSC FOR GREEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/28/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PINS, PINR, SOCI, KPAO, RP 
SUBJECT: LEFTISTS CLAIM SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGN TO KILL PARTY 
MEMBERS 
 
REF: A. MANILA 1151 
 
     B. MANILA 1127 
     C. MANILA 0887 
     D. MANILA 0387 
     E. 04 MANILA 5901 
     F. 04 MANILA 5552 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Timothy L. Cipullo 
for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Gunmen have already killed up to eighteen 
members of leftist front groups including Bayan Muna -- a 
political party closely associated with the Communist Party 
of the Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA) -- since the 
beginning of 2005.  Leftist leaders have claimed that there 
is a "systematic campaign" underway by GRP security forces to 
kill leftist party members.  The GRP has promised that it is 
investigating the killings and police claim to have 
"identified" one suspect so far.  The NPA continues its 
long-standing insurgency, frequently assassinating local 
leaders as well as ambushing GRP security forces.  We have 
raised concerns with the GRP about the situation, but the 
culture of violence will continue to thrive for the 
foreseeable future. End Summary. 
 
----------------- 
Spree of killings 
----------------- 
 
2.  (U) Gunmen have already in 2005 killed up to eighteen 
activists belonging to left-leaning organizations, while 
seriously wounding several others.  Two other individuals are 
missing.  These killings have occurred primarily in central 
and northern Luzon and in the Visayan region.  Details of 
major incidents follow: 
 
-- on March 22, unidentified gunmen in Pampanga Province 
(northwest of Manila) attacked lawyer Charles Juloya, a 
losing Bayan Muna candidate in the 2004 Congressional 
elections.  Juloya remains in critical condition, having 
suffered six gunshot wounds.  He was the second target of 
violence among fourteen suspects in a 1999 killing of former 
rebel priest and ex-NPA member Conrado Balweg (although the 
NPA itself claimed responsibility for his death), following 
the March 9 slaying of Romeo Sanchez (see below); 
 
-- on March 16, two gunmen in Camarines Norte Province in 
Southern Luzon shot and killed Joel Reyes, an organizer for 
the CPP/NPA-linked peasant group, Anakpawis; 
 
-- on March 14 in Tacloban City, Leyte Province, two men 
riding a motorcycle shot and killed Felidito Dacut, the Bayan 
Muna regional coordinator for the Eastern Visayas region; 
 
-- on March 10, four unidentified men shot and killed Ernesto 
Bang on the doorstep of his house in Camarines Norte.  Bang 
was the public information officer of the Camarines Norte 
chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Farmers' 
Movement of the Philippines), another peasant organization); 
 
-- on March 9 in the crowded Baguio City public market, a 
lone gunman killed Romeo Sanchez, Bayan Muna coordinator for 
the Ilocos Region.  Sanchez, a suspect in the 1999 Balweg 
murder, was also a radio journalist (ref A); 
 
-- on March 3, a gunman shot and killed Abelardo Ladera, 
Councilor of Tarlac City and Provincial Chapter Leader of 
Bayan Muna.  Ladera was a supporter of various left-leaning 
causes in Tarlac Province, including the effort to support 
striking farm workers at Hacienda Luisita, where in November 
2004 security forces killed at least seven people when they 
fired into a crowd of protesters at the estate -- (refs 
B,D,E). 
 
---------------------------- 
Left Accuses Security Forces 
---------------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) Leftist front groups have publicly accused GRP 
security forces of waging a "systematic campaign" to 
eliminate leftist operatives.  According to Bayan Muna 
spokesman and Congressman Satur Ocampo, "the probability, if 
not certainty, that these (killings) are perpetrated by 
agents of the state, through its military or paramilitary 
operatives, makes the situation a larger cause for public 
concern."  Ocampo claimed that almost fifty leftist activists 
have been killed since 2001.  Ocampo, along with fellow Bayan 
Muna Congressman Teddy Casino, have drafted a resolution 
urging Congress to condemn the attacks;  Congress is expected 
to consider the resolution in April.  Casino told poloff that 
he and other Bayan Muna members "fear for their lives" due to 
the recent violence but did not provide any hard evidence or 
documentation to back up allegations of GRP involvement in 
the attacks. 
 
4.  (C) Gilberto Teodoro, a Congressman from Tarlac, 
separately told poloff that he was concerned that elements 
linked with the AFP may be involved in the killings. 
However, Teodoro (part of the large Cojuangco clan that owns 
Hacienda Luisita) did not provide any hard evidence.  He 
expressed worry that there could be a "real bloodbath" if the 
NPA decided to retaliate for the killings of the leftist 
activists. 
 
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GRP Reaction 
------------ 
 
5.  (SBU) The Philippine National Police (PNP) has promised 
that it is actively investigating the killings.  So far, 
however, authorities have made progress on only one of the 
cases.  A special task force created by the Cordillera police 
department (in the Ilocos region) has "identified" a suspect 
in connection with the March 9 killing of Bayan Muna 
official, Romeo Sanchez.  According to the PNP, Baguio City 
police are now "preparing the necessary evidence and other 
pertinent documents to facilitate the filing of murder 
charges" against a known suspect described by eyewitnesses. 
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the 
constitutionally-mandated body set up to promote human rights 
in the Philippines, has also tasked its own investigators to 
look into the recent killings.  According to CHR officials, 
however, the CHR has not received any formal complaints about 
any of the killings as of yet.  Bayan Muna representatives 
nonetheless claimed to poloff that they planned to file a 
detailed complaint shortly covering all of the killings so 
far this year. (Note:  CHR can investigate human rights 
matters without a complaint, but the filing of a complaint 
sets off mandated timeframes by which a formal report must be 
filed.  End Note.) 
 
------------ 
NPA Violence 
------------ 
 
6.  (U) The NPA itself has a long history of attacks on 
members of the military and police during its almost 
forty-year insurgency.  In its print and electronic 
publication "Ang Bayan," the CPP/NPA boasted that the NPA had 
killed 138 members of the PNP and AFP in 2004 alone.  (The 
PNP has reported that the NPA assassinated only 91 PNP and 
AFP members in 2004, however.)  Some recent NPA attacks on 
security forces include: 
 
-- In early 2005, after the slaying of two policemen 
(witnessed by an amcit) by suspected NPA members at the local 
airport in Catanduanes Island (in Southern Tagalog), local 
police sent six officers to pursue the killers, but suspected 
NPA soldiers ambushed and killed them; 
 
-- On December 14, 2004, suspected NPA members staged a road 
accident in Tarlac.  When police responded, gunmen opened 
fire, killing the two officers; 
 
-- On November 30, 2004, suspected NPA forces ambushed and 
killed 10 AFP soldiers deployed on rescue and relief 
operations in typhoon-ravaged Quezon Province. 
 
----------------------------- 
GRP Concern About the CPP/NPA 
----------------------------- 
 
7.  (C) Contacts in the GRP have expressed frustration over 
the NPA attacks and the failure to bring the perpetrators to 
justice.  An internal PNP report in 2004 stated that 
"...losses incurred by the Government from recent NPA 
atrocities show that the NPA has become bolder and efficient 
in the conduct of its armed offensives."  Ref b noted new 
strategic efforts by the GRP to deal with the CPP/NPA, 
including the appointment of a new GRP panel for peace talks. 
 
8.  (C)  GRP officials are also alarmed by what they consider 
to be rapid political gains by parties associated with the 
CPP/NPA in recent years.  The same PNP also stated that 
"after the 2004 elections, the party (Bayan Muna) is expected 
to significantly move forward in terms of increasing its mass 
base support through transforming the electoral mass base 
developed and organized by the six (6) party-list groups that 
it has fielded for the party-list elections.  In this regard, 
the so-called white areas or venue of open mass campaigns 
would be expected to expand, along with the intensification 
of protest movements by exploiting national and local issues. 
 These activities are likely to strongly complement the 
intensification of NPA armed offensives in the so-called 
guerrilla fronts or red areas."  (Note:  Bayan -- the 
umbrella group of Bayan Muna and other leftist parties -- 
managed to get six of its members elected to Congress under 
the "party list" system, established in 2001.  This allows 
political parties representation in Congress if they receive 
at least two percent of the national vote.  Party list 
candidates do not represent any particular geographical 
district.  End Note.) 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
9.  (C) Embassy has raised concerns in meetings with GRP 
officials about the killings of known left-wing activists. 
Historically, however, few perpetrators of extrajudicial 
killings have ever been arrested, much less convicted of 
crimes.  Authorities have not even filed any charges related 
to the recent rash of murders of journalists (ref a) over the 
past several months despite widespread public concerns and 
vows of action by the GRP.  The culture of violence remains 
strong in the Philippines, often more linked to local 
vendettas, personal feuds, and competing business interests 
than political agendas.  However, the NPA insurgency remains 
bloody and many Filipinos feel frustrated by the inability of 
the AFP to defeat the NPA or of the GRP to offer attractive 
peace terms.  Sadly, more violence is inevitable. 
Ricciardone