PHILIPPINES: Disappearance of three men in Nueva Ecija 

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: UA-172-2006
ISSUES: Enforced disappearances and abductions,

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of yet another forcible abduction and subsequent disappearance of three men in General Tinio, Nueva Ecija on 17 May 2006. Armed men believed to be military agents forcibly took victims Domingo Guinto (a.k.a Jojo), Abelardo Interior and Virgilio Tranquilino from their houses. The perpetrators were wearing bonnets, army camouflage pants, and some had black long sleeve shirts on at the time of the incident.

According to a report from Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples’ Rights), it was around 2am when the Guinto family was woken from their sleep with the arrival or several armed men. They then forcibly took Guinto and ordered the other occupants inside the house to lie face down on the floor and warned them they would be shot if they dared look up. The armed men took the mobile phone of Guinto’s wife and his children’s money worth P100.00 (USD 1.89). They then forced Guinto towards a black van and then left.

The two vehicles the perpetrators were riding on stopped in front of another victim’s house, Abelardo Interior. This was less than two kilometres from where Guinto’s house is located. At this point, the barking of their dog awakened Abelardo’s wife. She went out to have a look and was surprised to see a rifle pointed at her. She did not notice that her husband had followed her out of the house and was just behind her.

The armed men ordered them to get inside the house and to wake up their children.  When the children woke up, they were ordered to get out of their rooms. The armed men ransacked the second floor section of their house reportedly in search of a gun. When they failed to find any, they took a bladed farm tool, a wallet containing P20.00 pesos and five live chickens.

Interior’s family members were ordered to get out of their house. They were likewise ordered to lie face down on the ground and warned that they would be shot if they dared look up. But Interior’s youngest child did look up and saw his father being blind folded and physically assaulted a few metres away.

Another victim, Virgilio Tranquilino, who is a family friend of the Interiors was also forcibly taken and forced towards a van together with two other victims before they left. Tranquilino was at the time spending a night at the back of Interior’s house. The whereabouts of the victims remain unknown.

After the incident, workers from ALMMA (Citizens Alliance for the Advancement of Human Rights), a provincial chapter of Karapatan, started looking for the victims’ whereabouts in various police and military camps. They went to the military’s Fort Magsaysay and the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in General Tinio, Nueva Ecija respectively to look for the victims but they denied having them in custody. Their families reportedly have continued on looking for them in different camps and military detachments in the provinces of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, Luzon.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

This is yet another incident wherein the families of the disappeared are forced to inquire at the military and police camps. Despite the great risk the victims’ families are taking, they are forced to do so to ensure the victims are safe and alive. In most cases, if the police or military agents have made the arrest the victims are kept for days for investigation at locations unknown to their families. During this investigation, there are incidents where they have been tortured and maltreated.

When victims Axel Alejandro Pinpin, Aristedes Sarmiento, Riel Custodio, Enrico Ybañez and Michael Masayes were first reported to have disappeared on 28 April 2006 in Tagaytay City, no one was aware of their whereabouts. The victims’ colleagues and supporters immediately searched for them in military and police camps (please see our previous appeals: UA-143-2006).

It was later discovered that elements of the Police Regional Office in Calabarzon (PRO 4A) took them into custody for days. The victim’s families, however, were not informed of their whereabouts. Even after the five victims were presented to the media on May 1, the police holding them in custody denied the victim’s visits by their families and access to legal counsel. The victims were reportedly tortured while in police custody.

The AHRC has also reported the disappearance of civilians whose perpetrators are alleged to be either military agents or police. The whereabouts of victims Pepito Campus and Leonardo Parungao of San Antonio, Nueva Ecija (UA-099-2006) and Reynaldo Manalo and his brother Raymond of San Ildefonso, Bulacan (UA-077-2006) remain unknown. They were abducted on 18 and 14 February 2006 respectively.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to concerned agencies below requesting them to exhaust all means to locate the victims’ whereabouts and to assist their families. Please also request that an immediate and independent investigation be conducted in this case to determine whether or not the military agents or forces connected to them are responsible for the disappearance. The families of the disappeared must be actively involved in any effort to locate their loved ones.

 

 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear __________,

PHILIPPINES: Disappearance of three men in Nueva Ecija

Name of the victims: 
1. Domingo Guinto (a.k.a. Jojo). Married with six children, a resident of Barangay (village) Pias, General Tinio, Nueva Ecija. Occupation: A tricycle driver.
2. Abelardo Interior (47). Married with two children, a resident of Barangay Pias, General Tinio, Nueva Ecija. He is a peasant.
3. Virgilio Tranquilino (34). Married with five children, a resident of Hain, Nueva Ecija
Name of alleged perpetrators: At least 30 unidentified armed men, wearing bonnets, army camouflage, pants and black long sleeved shirts believed to be military agents
Place of incident: At the victims’ houses in Barangay Pias, General Tinio, Nueva Ecija
Time and date of incident: 17 May 2006, between 2 and 4am

I am writing to draw your attention to yet another disappearance of three men in General Tinio, Nueva Ecija on 17 May 2006. According to the information I received, victims Domingo Guinto, Abelardo Interior and Virgilio Tranquilino were forcibly abducted and subsequently disappeared by armed men believed to be military agents or forces connected to them. The perpetrators--according to the witnesses’ descriptions--were wearing bonnets, army camouflage pants, and some had black long sleeve shirts on at the time of the incident.

It is reported that Guinto was seized from his house while Abelardo Interior and Virgilio Tranquilino were forcibly taken in a house nearby. I have learned that Guinto and Abelardo’s wives and children were also threatened and harassed by the perpetrators during the incident. A gun was pointed at Abelardo’s wife and threats were made against the children. They likewise threatened to shoot Guinto’s wife and children. The three victims were forced towards the van of the perpetrators and taken away. Their whereabouts remain unknown.

I am deeply concerned by this yet another incident of disappearance in your country. I urge your immediate intervention to exhaust all means to locate the victim’s whereabouts. The victims families must be actively involved in any effort to locate them. Also, an effective investigation must be conducted to determine whether or not the military or forces connected to them are involved in this latest disappearance. The witnesses and the victim’s relative’s account of the incident must be looked into during the investigation.

Additionally, appropriate intervention must also be afforded to the victims’ wives and children as they may have suffered severe trauma as a result of the incident. While the efforts to locate the victims are continuing, their relatives must be afforded with appropriate assistance--counseling and rehabilitation programmes for their trauma. Their safety and security must likewise be ensured to prevent further threats and harassment taken against them.

I trust that you will take action in this case.

Yours sincerely,

-------------------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Ms. Purificacion Quisumbing
Commissioner
Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., Commonwealth Avenue
U.P. Complex, Diliman
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Tel: +63 2 928 5655 / 926 6188
Fax: +63 2 929 0102
Email: drpvq@chr.gov.ph

2. P/DIR Gen. Arturo Lomibao
Chief, Philippine National Police (PNP)
Camp General Rafael Crame
Quezon City 
PHILIPPINES
Tel: +63 2726 4361/4366/8763
Fax: +63 2724 8763

3. Mr. Raul Gonzalez
Secretary
Department of Justice
DOJ Bldg., Padre Faura
1004 Manila
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 521 1614
Email: sechbp@infocom.com.ph

4. Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President
Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
JP Laurel Street, San Miguel
Manila 1005 
PHILIPPINES
Tel: +63 2 735 6201 / 564 1451 to 80
Fax: +63 2 736 1010

5. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Safir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

6. Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
Attn: Ms Vernonica Birga
Room 3-042
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9615
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN)
Email: vbirga@ohchr.org (please also cc: rrico@ohchr.org)

7. Mr. Jacob Egbert Doek
Chairperson
Committee on the Rights of the Child
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9022 (ATTN: COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD)


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme 
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)

Document Type : Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID : UA-172-2006
Countries : Philippines,
Issues : Enforced disappearances and abductions,