US embassy cable - 05MANILA5346

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 005346 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL/CRA, DRL/IL, S/CT 
NSC FOR H. MORROW 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PTER, PINS, PREL, PINR, RP 
SUBJECT: AMID CONTINUED NPA ATTACKS, KILLINGS OF LEFTIST 
ACTIVISTS ON THE RISE 
 
REF: A. MANILA 5096 
     B. MANILA 1401 
     C. MANILA 1151 
     D. MANILA 1086 
 
Classified By: Acting Pol/C Joseph L. Novak for 
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  About 40 leftist activists have been killed 
in the Philippines so far in 2005.  These killings, a jump 
from the number recorded in 2004, come amid a flurry of 
attacks by the New People's Army (NPA), which have killed and 
injured many.  "Legal" left politicians and activists have 
harshly criticized the attacks, asserting that the GRP is 
"sponsoring" the killings.  The government denies involvement 
and says it is investigating.  Mission continues to urge the 
GRP to investigate each case thoroughly.  The killings 
highlight the high level of violence associated with the 
long-running NPA insurgency, which has no end in sight. (See 
forthcoming Septel review of the status of the NPA 
insurgency.)  End Summary. 
 
40 Activists Reported Killed in 2005 
------------------------------------ 
 
2.  (SBU) Killings of leftist activists in the Philippines, 
perennially a matter of human rights concern, have spiked 
this year.  In March, Mission reported that gunmen had killed 
up to 18 members of leftist groups since the beginning of 
2005 (ref b).  The leftist Bayan Muna party reported on 
September 29 that 53 of its members have been killed since 
2001, including ten members this year.  According to the 
left-wing labor movement Kilusan Mayo Uno (KMU), or "May 
First Movement," 33 of its activists have been killed this 
year, as of mid-September.  Since that date, at least six 
more members of leftist parties (including three Bayan Muna 
members) have been slain, bringing the total number of 
activists killed this year -- according to observers -- to at 
least 40.  This compares to the figure of 10-20 activists who 
were believed killed in all of 2004.  (Note:  Some of the 
slain activists were members of groups believed to have links 
with the NPA, while others were members of groups without 
apparent links to the NPA.  End Note.) 
 
3.  (U) The killings include two ministers of the United 
Church of the Philippines (UCCP) who were associated with 
leftist groups.  The UCCP reports that there have been at 
least seven other attacks on its members during the year. 
 
4.  (U) Details of some prominent incidents since ref b 
(March 2005) follow: 
 
-- November 13:  Ben Bajado, a local leftist, was killed in 
Maydolong, Eastern Samar, in the central Visayas region. 
 
-- October 25:  Unidentified assailants killed Ricardo Ramos, 
the local leader of the sugar workers' union at the Hacienda 
Luisita plantation located in Tarlac Province, north of 
Manila (see ref a). 
 
-- October 15:  Two men on a motorcycle shot dead Florante 
Collantes in Camiling town, Tarlac.  He was Bayan Muna's 
General Secretary in Tarlac Province. 
 
-- October 2:  Unknown persons shot dead Armandao Javier Jr., 
a leftist leader in central Luzon.  Celia Esteban, a local 
Bayan Muna leader in the same region, was also abducted and 
later found dead. 
 
-- September 22:  Two unidentified gunmen shot and killed 
Diosdado Fortuna, local Chairman for the Kilusang Mayo Uno 
(KMU) in Cabuyao, Laguna Province, located south of Manila. 
 
-- September 1:  Two armed men on a motorcycle shot and 
killed Norman Bocar, regional chairman of a leftist party, in 
Borongan, Eastern Samar. 
 
-- August 20:  Two armed men shot UCCP minister Rev. Raul 
Domingo, a provincial officer of a leftist group, in Puerto 
Princesa, Palawan Province, in the west of the country.  He 
died of his injuries on September 4. 
 
-- May 12:  Assassins killed UCCP minister Rev. Edison Lapuz, 
the former Bayan Muna coordinator for Eastern Visayas, in 
Tacloban, Leyte Province, in the central Visayas region. 
 
-- May 8:  Unidentified gunmen killed Ambrocio Matias, a 
left-wing municipal coordinator in Nueva Ecija Province, 
north of Manila. 
 
Left Accuses GRP 
---------------- 
 
5.  (SBU) Leftist representatives in Congress and activists 
publicly accuse the GRP of "sponsoring" the killings of the 
activists.  Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo has 
described the attacks as "political repression masquerading 
as counter-insurgency and antiterrorism operations."  Ocampo 
and other leftist leaders have repeatedly urged national and 
local authorities to ensure the safety of members of their 
party and for the GRP to apprehend the perpetrators of the 
attacks.  On April 14, Ocampo tabled a resolution asking 
President Arroyo "to take immediate steps to stop the 
escalation of extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, 
illegal arrests and harassment committed against leaders of 
progressive party-list Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela and 
their allied organizations."  The resolution has not yet been 
considered by the House. 
 
GRP Reaction 
------------ 
 
6.  (C) For its part, the GRP has asserted that it is 
investigating the killings.  On March 26, President Arroyo 
stated in a press release that law enforcement agencies are 
investigating the "alleged assassinations of Bayan Muna 
leaders and other killings," and asked persons with 
information to come forward and help the authorities.  The 
GRP has issued few other public statements on the killings. 
The October 25 killing of a well-known labor activist (see 
para 4), however, prompted a press uproar; in response, the 
chief of the Philippine National Police visited Tarlac and 
the President's spokesman promised a full investigation.  Two 
soldiers were questioned by police (ref a) and have now been 
charged with murder -- the first for any killings this year. 
 
7.  (C) Flora Atilano, the head of the Commission on Human 
Right's Legal and Investigation Division, acknowledged during 
a recent meeting with poloff that a weak government 
witness-protection mechanism (or at least ineffective 
implementation of it) hinders thorough investigations of 
these killings and potential prosecutions.  The UCCP's 
national office in Manila also said that witnesses fearful 
for their own safety were precluding any progress in cases 
where UCCP members were killed. 
 
Increasing NPA Violence 
----------------------- 
 
8.  (SBU) The killings are taking place in the context of 
increased violence between the Communists and the government. 
 Clashes between the NPA and the security forces appear to 
have increased since exiled CPP leader Jose Maria Sison 
announced in late September that the NPA would intensify its 
attacks on government targets, apparently as part of its 
drive to undermine the Arroyo administration by forcing her 
to resign.  (Note:  In a further sign of increased tensions, 
the GRP on October 5 formally canceled immunity guarantees 
that it gave to 97 communist rebel negotiators for the second 
time in three months, citing "aggressive" NPA activities and 
difficulties in arranging peace talks.  End Note.) 
 
9.  (U) During the first eight months of 2005 
(January-August), the NPA killed 80 PNP and AFP personnel and 
40 civilians, according to government figures.  Major 
incidents included: 
 
-- On June 13, NPA cadre killed nine soldiers of the 50th 
Infantry Battalion and injured three others in an ambush in 
the northern Luzon province of Ilocos Sur. 
 
-- During the last two weeks of September, at least seven NPA 
rebels and three AFP soldiers were killed during separate 
clashes in Aurora and Nueva Ecija Provinces in the 
north/central Philippines.  Separately, NPA rebels mounted 
seven simultaneous attacks on government outposts in Surigao 
del Sur and Agusan del Sur, provinces in Mindanao. 
 
-- On October 30, at least 10 NPA rebels were wounded in 
clashes with the AFP in Surigao del Sur. 
 
-- On November 10, NPA rebels torched a public bus in Bataan 
Province, located west of Manila, for not paying 
"revolutionary" taxes. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
10.  (C) Mission continues to urge the GRP to investigate 
each killing thoroughly.  Unfortunately, the spate of 
killings serves to highlight the high level of violence 
associated with the long-running NPA insurgency, which has no 
end in sight.  (See forthcoming Septel review of the status 
of the NPA insurgency.)  As noted, the GRP says it is trying 
to do its best, but it is the case that historically few 
perpetrators of extrajudicial killings have ever been 
arrested, much less convicted of crimes.  Authorities, for 
example, have not convicted anyone for the recent rash of 
murders of journalists in the Philippines (ref c).  The 
killings of the left-wing activists could also have the 
unfortunate consequence of driving the "legal" left 
underground, which would only polarize the situation further 
and lessen the chance that the left could be brought into the 
political mainstream at any time soon. 
 
Visit Embassy Manila's Classified SIPRNET website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/ 
 
Jones