THE human-rights watchdog Karapatan has deplored the recent assignment of Brig. Gen. Ricardo Visaya as acting commander of the Army’s 4th Infantry “Diamond” Division based in Cagayan de Oro City.
Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary-general, said “the installation of Visaya reveals the intent of the Armed Forces to heighten attacks against people’s rights, especially in Mindanao. General Visaya was among retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan’s subordinates when the military’s terror reigned in Central Luzon through [President] Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya. He [Visaya] was former commander of the 69th Infantry Battalion that was responsible for the Hacienda Luisita massacre in November 2004.”
Karapatan claimed that Visaya left a trail of human-rights violations wherever he was assigned.
Karapatan noted that among the many cases that Visaya is responsible for are:
The alleged abduction and torture of farmers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo in February 2006, in which elements of the 69th IB headed by Visaya, are directly involved. The Manalo brothers escaped after more than two years in captivity and are principal witnesses to the alleged abduction, torture and rape of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño. The 69th IB-PA is among other military units under Palparan’s 7th Infantry “Kaugnay” Division;
The massacre and frustrated killing of Hacienda Luisita farmers and workers in November 2004, when elements of the National Police, Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command, 33rd Light Armor Company and the 69th IB allegedly fired at striking farmers and workers. The workers protested against the alleged unjust labor practices of the Cojuangcos and called for land distribution. President Aquino’s family owns the vast tract of lands and, despite the Supreme Court (SC), the land distribution has yet to materialize;
The massive deployment of soldiers under Visaya’s Civil Military Operation Battalion in Metro Manila communities from February to September 2007 that allegedly resulted in numerous cases of threats, harassment and intimidation especially among members and leaders of progressive organizations, as well as partisan campaigning against progressive party-list organizations and recruitment of intelligence agents among the people;
Alleged threats, harassment and intimidation of Dole Philippines’s farm workers during their union election in February 2011. Visaya headed the 27th IB assigned in Polomolok, South Cotabato. Visaya’s troops reportedly targeted leaders and members of the incumbent union affiliated with the Kilusang Mayo Uno;
Encampment and use of barangay halls, day care centers, chapels and other civilian facility by troops under 901st Infantry Brigade in villages in Albay. Also, Visaya tried to justify the alleged killing and beheading of Albay village councilor Ely Oguis in November 2012 by accusing Oguis of being a tax collector of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Visaya replaced Maj. Gen. Nestor Añonuevo, who was reportedly recalled to the Armed Forces General Headquarters in Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City, following the wounding of Gingoog Mayor Ruth Guingona in an ambush by NPA guerrillas.
“We lament the wounding of Mayor Guingona and the death of her two bodyguards. But the government should not use this as a convenient excuse for the massive deployment of troops that will be led by Visaya. This is not the road to peace. The government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines [NDF] need to advance the peace talks to genuinely address the root causes of people’s rights violations,” Palabay said.
Karapatan said the statements from President Aquino, Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, Armed Forces chief of staff, and Malacañang Spokesman Edwin Lacierda ordering the military to step up offensives against the NPA and the Communist Party of the Philippines are indications of the heightened implementation of Internal Peace and Security Plan Bayanihan, which had already left 137 victims of extrajudicial killings, 72 victims of torture, 498 cases of illegal arrests, and 30,260 victims of forced evacuation (Karapatan statistics as of December 2012).
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