By Nikko Dizon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:34:00 02/10/2008
MANILA, Philippines--The military's Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) has warned that summary executions carried out by "communist terrorists" (or CTs) against the Armed Forces of the Philippines and civilians are likely to increase in 2008 as indicated by the 11 killings recorded in the Bicol Region in the past month alone.
In a statement, the Solcom also took a swipe at the media, foreign and local human rights organizations, and United Nations Human Rights Special Rapporteur Philip Alston for supposedly ignoring the atrocities of the New People's Army (NPA) while "persecuting" the military in the alleged extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
"As the government is continuously being persecuted by human rights advocates here and abroad for alleged summary disappearance of leftists and CTs, these enemy atrocities continue without being noticed, (t)hanks to the media who chose to keep mum about these incidents," the statement emailed to reporters said.
It continued: "Alston et al ignored these extremely disturbing phenomena despite evidence left by the killers near the cadavers of victims and despite press releases by the CTM (Communist Terrorist Movement) themselves owning up to the killing of their victims which they always justify as alleged verdicts of their so called "Hukumang Bayan" or their "Kangaroo Court."
The Solcom is the AFP's area command in the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions.
According to Solcom, most of the NPAs' victims were civilians suspected of being military informants.
It said that of the 11 recorded executions this year, 10 took place in Bicol, and seven of the victims were civilians.
The lone case recorded in Oriental Mindoro in Southern Tagalog was the killing of a military soldier.
The Solcom said the victims were either abducted then executed or assassinated by hitmen "right at the gates of the victims' houses even in full view of their family members."
It said that based on the "trending," liquidations initiated by the communist guerillas "is likely to surpass that of the 2006 and 2007
figures as the CPP/NPA continues to terrorize the people to dissuade them from gravitating towards the government in a desperate attempt to arrest the continues downtrend of mass base support in SOLCOM area."
"The dwindling strength of the CTM brought about by the neutralization efforts of the government forces and the exodus of many dispirited members who (have) gone on lie-low status, has further degraded their capability to conduct tactical offensives thus forcing them to settle for liquidation operations to project a semblance of strength and to prop up their statistics on CT-initiated activities," the Solcom said.
The Solcom said it recorded a total of 152 "liquidation cases perpetrated by the CTs" from January 1, 2006 to February 6, 2008.
Eighty-four percent of the killings happened in Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon, said the military.
Sixteen percent took place in the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Quezon, and Rizal.
According to Solcom, the executions increased by 43 percent in 2007 compared to the previous year.
It said that in 2006, a total of 56 executions were reported while in 2007, 80 killings were reported.
The Solcom statistics were based on compiled spot reports and daily intelligence briefs from 2006 to early February of this year.
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