'This cannot be condoned. We are looking into everything,' says AFP spokesperson Major General Domingo Tutaan
Screenshot of video of alleged soldiers involved in summary execution
Senior military generals were attending a command conference at the general headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, when then Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Emmanuel Bautista asked a few of them to watch a video.
On an iPad, the generals
watched armed men in military uniform kick a man and step on his head before
they fired their M16s at him. (READ: Caught on video: 'Soldiers'
shoot man in cold blood)
They were
shocked, according to one of the officers who watched the video with them. They
said: "Ano yan? Bakit ganoon? Dapat parusahan ang mga iyan.”
(What is that? Why did that happen? They should be punished.)
Rappler
interviewed AFP spokesperson Major General Domingo Tutaan on Friday, August 1,
about the video. He said Bautista saw the video on July 7 and immediately
ordered an investigation to determine when it happened, where it happened, and
if the men involved are indeed from the Philippine Army.
“We were really
astonished,” said Tutaan, who was also a former chief of the AFP Human Rights
Office. He said human rights violations were clearly committed although he
refused to confirm that the men responsible were government troops – pending
the result of the investigation.
"Granting
that he is an adversary, still he is a person. He is entitled to his rights as
a human being and the dignity of a person. He is entitled to that. That is why
when we saw that we were really bothered. We were really concerned about it.
This cannot be condoned. We are looking into everything,” said Tutaan.
The AFP happened
to be holding a command conference when an officer showed Bautista the video.
He called senior officers during a break and they watched the video together at
the AFP Commissioned Officers Club (AFPCOC) inside Camp Aguinaldo
Among those who
watched the video with General Bautista were then acting Army chief Major
Romulo Cabantac, now AFP Human Rights Office chief Colonel Jose Antonio Motril,
and the current commander of the military unit in question, the Army’s 601st
Brigade chief Brigadier General Edmundo Pangilian.
"After
viewing and discussing it, an investigation was initiated. It is now Colonel
Motril who is initiating the investigation on this. Of course, the Philippine
Army is also involved because it's the Army [that may be responsible],"
Tutaan said.
A representative
of the Communications, Electronics, and Informations Systems was also called to
assist the Human Rights Office in the probe.
A month since the
July 7 command conference, the investigation is unfinished. Bautista retired on
July 18, 2014, and turned over command to new AFP chief of staff General
Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr.
Motril said they
have narrowed down their probe to the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom).
Motril confirmed that patches of the 6th Infantry Division were seen on the
soldiers, although he said anyone can buy these patches.
“We haven’t
officially received reports from lower AFP units on the video’s authenticity.
We asked for investigation on the circumstances in the video from the Western
Mindanao Command and the Army,” Motril said.
“If they are
soldiers, they must be investigated, cases should be filed, and due punishment
must be meted,” Motril added.
Tutaan gave an
assurance Catapang has been monitoring the probe.
Old
video?
The video
apparently circulated among MILF members last month, prompting the group to
conduct its own investigation. The MILF believes it’s a new video taken after
the June 10 military operation against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
(BIFF) in Maguindanao.
But Tutaan said they
believe the video is several years old. "We don't really know what place.
We believe it was sometime in 2008 or 2009. Kasi matagal na iyan e. Lumabas
na iyan before (It’s old. It came out before [in the Internet]),” said
Tutaan.
Motril said they
have yet to confirm that they are soldiers. “Video shows armed persons in
various military and civilian attire, which the AFP does not sport,” he said.
He said there are other details in the video that they are investigating.
Retaliation
But at least two
officers who have seen the video told Rappler they believe the men in the video
are soldiers. They also said it was probably taken in 2008 or 2009. Talk in
military circles points to retaliatory action after an incident where soldiers
were supposedly kidnapped and then beheaded.
A Google search
shows several incidents of beheading of soldiers in Western
Mindanao in 2008 and 2009.
One officer said
the bandoliers – the pocketed belt for holding ammunition – are a supposed
giveaway. Those were reportedly issued during the time of AFP chief General
Hermogenes Esperon, who served from 2006 to 2008 under the Arroyo
administration. New bandoliers were supposedly issued beginning 2008, although
others still probably used the old ones until 2009.
But there is no
excuse for the human rights violations, they acknowledged.
Tutaan said that
if probers ultimately find out that soldiers were the ones who fired those
shots, they would be accused of the following violations:
Violation of
Republic Act 9851 or the International Humanitarian Law
Violation of AFP
Rules of Engagement
Violation of the
IPSP Bayanihan
Determining the
year the video was taken is apparently crucial. If the video was taken in 2008
and the perpetrators are soldiers, Tutaan said they may not be liable under IHL
law and the IPSP Bayanihan which were put in place in 2009.
But Tutaan said
they are definitely violations of the AFP rules of engagement. “Regardless of
date, rules of engagement can suffice,” he said.
“If you look at
the video, they shot the man. Under the Revised Penal Code, that can be murder.
But then again we do not want to hit anybody openly [until we’ve determined who
are the people invovled],” he said.
http://www.rappler.com/nation/65017-military-probe-human-rights-violations
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