B.C. COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE PHILIPPINES (BCCHRP) c/o Kalayaan Centre, 451 Powell St. Vancouver, BC, Canada V6A 1G7 Phone/Fax: 604-215-1905  ? E-mail: bcchrp@kalayaancentre.net Website: http://www.kalayaancentre.net Statement

STOP THE KILLINGS IN HACIENDA LUISITA!

March 23, 2006

The hatred and brutality of the military against the workers and leaders of the militant unions of Hacienda Luisita knows no bounds. TIRSO CRUZ, 33 years old, a village councilman (barangay kagawad) of Barangay Pando, Concepcion and a Board director of the United Luisita Workers’ Union (ULWU) was shot several times by motorcycle-riding gun men shortly after midnight on March 17, 2006. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the local hospital. Tirso Cruz is the 14th Hacienda Luisita martyr.

Tirso Cruz spoke out against the deployment of the 71st Infantry Division of the Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) and Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGU) in the hacienda and demanded their withdrawal. He was also actively involved in the protests against the construction of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway. He also refused to sign dubious biodata sheets in spite of numerous threats and pressure from the military.

On October 20, 2005, RICARDO RAMOS, 47 years old, president of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union (CATLU) and chairman of Barangay Mapalacsiao, was shot and killed in his own backyard hours after his union won the money settlement for unpaid wages before the union went on strike in November 2004.  Ricardo Ramos was heavily involved in the negotiations with the management to end the Hacienda Luisita strike. Like Tirso Cruz, he had received death threats and, according to another union officer, was being hounded by the Northern Luzon Command.
 
The B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BCCHRP) is alarmed and angered by the continuing attacks against the Hacienda Luisita workers, union leaders and supporters. As a Canadian organization committed to the defense and promotion of human rights in the Philippines, we have followed the historic struggle of the 5,000 farm workers and 700 mill workers for land, higher wages, and their democratic rights in Hacienda Luisita, the vast sugarcane plantation owned and managed by the Cojuangco-Aquino clan. We watched in horror the raw video footage of the strike dispersal that showed the strikers and their supporters running and dashing for cover to escape the hail of bullets from the police and military at the picket line on November 16, 2004. That dispersal, now known as the Hacienda Luisita Massacre, killed seven strikers and supporters.

BCCHRP members who joined the International Solidarity Mission: In Defense of a People Fighting Repression last August 2005, to investigate the gross human rights violations in the Philippines, had the privilege of staying at the Hacienda Luisita picket line.  We interviewed the striking workers and their families, listened to and documented the stories of the political killings, illegal detentions and interrogations, surveillances, death threats and continuing harassment and other human rights violations by the military and police against the people of the Hacienda. We met not only the wives, mothers and families of the seven workers and supporters who died from the violent dispersal, but also the families of Tarlac Councilor Abelardo Ladera and the Reverend William Tadena, IFI, both summarily executed by armed gun men for supporting the strike. We personally knew Tirso Cruz and Ricardo Ramos from that Solidarity Mission—we listened to their speeches and testimonies, shook hands with them and were inspired by their fierce commitment to their fellow workers and the justness of their strike action.

We celebrated the victory of the striking unions and the people of Hacienda Luisita when CATLU and ULWU signed their respective agreements with the management on Dec. 8, 2005 and ended what has been described as the most bloody and controversial strike in Philippine labour history. However, the deaths of Tirso Cruz and Ricardo Ramos only heighten our fear that there could be more attacks and political killings against the militant leaders of the people in the hacienda.
BCCHRP holds the military, particularly the Army’s 7th Infantry Division headed by General Jovito Palparan Jr., the government of the President and Commander-in-Chief Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Cojuangco-Aquino politico-landlord clan as those responsible for the killings, harassment and intimidation and continued military deployment in the hacienda.

We see that the pattern of assassination in Hacienda Luisita is the same employed nationwide against chosen targets-- known activists and leaders of legal organizations. Most of the victims killed were gunned down by motorcycle-riding men wearing helmets or masks. Victims were shot in or near their homes, headquarters or offices, or while going to and from these places, suggesting that surveillance was conducted before the actual shootings.

Very clearly, the violent attacks are done with impunity, sometimes near or close to military or police detachments. Police investigations are not carried out, and no perpetrators are arrested or brought to justice. In the case of the Hacienda Luisita cases, the military and government were quick to cast the blame on the New People’s Army as the perpetrators and even dared to suggest that the rivalry and rift between the CATLU and the ULWU as possible motives behind the deaths of Cruz and Ramos!

Last March 20, the notorious Palparan was awarded the Distinguished Service Star Medal for ‘meritorious and valuable service” by the Philippine Army, making a complete mockery of the Philippine justice system.  Palparan makes his career and earns his stars and “distinguished” awards on the deaths, torture and sufferings of the people in Mindoro, Samar, Southern and Central Luzon. The Arroyo government sets the example of awarding merits to killers and secures criminals in high positions of government service.

Justice has proved to be elusive for the families of the Hacienda martyrs. No one has been arrested or punished for any of the killings. The Office of the Ombudsman even dismissed the case filed against the perpetrators of the Nov. 16 massacre. The President herself has not condemned the killings nor has she ordered her military to immediately pull out of Hacienda Luisita. It is public knowledge that nothing happens inside the hacienda without the consent or approval of the Cojuangco-Aquino politico-landlord clan and the Arroyo government.

While BCCHRP believes that justice will be served against those who have committed crimes against the workers and people of Hacienda Luisita, we do not see it happening under the Macapagal-Arroyo government that continues to set loose the vicious dogs of state terror and repression against the people. The Macapagal-Arroyo government was tried and convicted by the International People’s Tribunal for her crimes against the people.

As the Arroyo government continues to kill its own people, we urge the Canadian government to suspend its relations with the Philippines. BCCHRP continues to stand with the Filipino people who continue to fight for their rights, fight repression and state terrorism.

STOP THE POLITICAL KILLINGS!
OUST GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO!
JUSTICE TO THE HACIENDA LUISITA MARTYRS!
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March 23, 2006 : BCCHRP Vancouver, Canada