"The Capion siblings would have been playing together today, attending school or caring for their six month old baby, if only the massacre didn’t happen a year ago," Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said.
"The Capion siblings would have been playing together today, attending school or caring for their six month old baby, if only the massacre didn’t happen a year ago," Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said.
On October 18, 2012, members of the 27th Infantry Battalion, led by 1st Lt. Dante Jimenez, and members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) strafed bullets at the Capion hut, killing Juvy, who was pregnant, and her two sons Jordan, 13, and John Mark, 8.
The people’s outrage against the massacre exposed the Task Force KiTaCo (Kiblawan, Tampakan, Columbio), a special unit created by the Philippine Army to protect SMI-Xstrata’s interests in the said areas. Despite the AFP’s announcement that the 27th Infantry Battalion will be pulled out of the community, “TF KiTaCo is still on a killing spree," Palabay said. "TF Kitaco and its paramilitary groups were involved in the killing of Kitari Capion, Daguil’s brother, on January 29, 2013; Sonny Boy Planda on June 28, 2013; and Fulong (Cheiftain) Anting Freay and his 16-year old son Victor on August 23, 2013," cited Palabay.
"This is where the Php182B Oplan Bayanihan Fund goes to—to bombs and bullets that get through bodies of innocent civilians," Palabay said. "With Php2B budget for arming and training members of CAFGU and other paramilitary groups, more Filipinos will be easily targeted for assassination and more human rights violations will be committed. With paramilitary groups, the AFP can easily wash their hands off from these violations," Palabay said.
Today also marks the second year of the assassination of Italian priest Fr. Fausto Tentorio. "Years are passing by without any sign that justice can be achieved under the BS Aquino regime, " Palabay said. Fr. Pops was gunned down on Oct. 17, 2011 by suspected members of Bagani paramilitary, a group attached to the Philippine Army in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato. Fr. Pops, during his 40 years of service in Mindanao, organized Lumad communities and was in opposition to destructive "development" projects of foreign big business and the government.
Aside from hearings conducted by government agencies such as the Commission on Human Rights and the Department of Justice, the perpetrators are still unpunished. Meanwhile, the Bagani paramilitary group continues to be involved in numerous cases of human rights violations not only in North Cotabato but in many areas in Mindanao, specifically in communities of indigenous peoples.
"Aquino is no different from a feudal warlord, investing on his arsenal, hiring private armies to kill anyone to protect his and his bosses’ interests, and unmindful that his country is disaster-stricken. If the PhP182 B was put to disaster preparedness or comprehensive rehabilitation program, lives of the Filipino people in disaster-stricken areas would have been better," Palabay said.
"With billions of pesos wasted to corruption, and so many lives taken away because of BS Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan, Karapatan will not be surprised if, like the B’laans who waged a pangayao, the Filipino people’s rage against this regime will put BS Aquino in the same fate with Marcos, Estrada or Arroyo—ousted or prosecuted," Palabay said.
Karapatan ended by calling for Justice for Fr. Pops Tentorio, the Capions and all victims of extra-judicial killings. ###