AFP, Karapatan clash on arrest of Silva

From InterAksyon (Jun 4): AFP, Karapatan clash on arrest of Silva

A progressive human rights organization and the military clashed on the matter of the arrest of 67-year-old Adelberto Silva who was earlier tagged by the military as the replacement of detained Wilma Tiamzon, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New people's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

But, as far as Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay is concerned, Silva is a "peace consultant" of the NDF.

"Silva is a holder of the JASIG (Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees) documentation of identification with the assumed named 'Percival Rojo'," she said.

But, according to the military, Silva is allegedly No. 2 in the ranks of the CPP-NPA-NDF and that he replaced Wilma Tiamzon after she was arrested with her husband, Benito, CPP-NPA-NDF leader, together with five other comrades in March 2014 in Cebu.

"Silva is accused of heinous crimes, such as murder and frustrated murder. He was also tagged as among those who had a direct hand in the infamous Inopacan massacre which claimed the lives of more or less 400 people," Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc, AFP Public Affairs Office chief, retorted.

The military reported on Wednesday that Silva was arrested at past 11 p.m. on June 1 in Bacoor, Cavite. It did not mention who was with him when he was arrested.

But, according to Palabay, Silva was arrested in Barangay Molino together with his wife, Rosanna Cabusao, and another companion, Isidro De Lima, by some 30 members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police (CIDG-PNP).

She said Silva was a long-time organizer and consultant of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and his wife is a researcher-consultant of the Crispin B. Beltran Resource Center and a founding member of Gabriela.

Palabay said the arrest is "another serious violation of the signed agreements between the two parties."

"Silva was charged with numerous criminal cases of murder and frustrated/attempted murder in the courts in Aparri, Cagayan and Laoang, Northern Samar, where NDFP consultants Benito Tiamzon, Wilma Austria Tiamzon and Elizabeth Principe were also charged with the same trumped up cases. Prior to Silva's arrest, Karapatan had documented the arrest of 16 NDFP consultants, who are still detained, among the 527 political prisoners in the country," Palabay said.

But all these are fabricated charges against Silva, including the illegal possession of firearms and explosives filed against them at the inquest proceedings in Bacoor, Palabay said.

"The evidence against them were planted during the raid by the CIDG. This practice of arresting individuals based on planted evidence should stop," Palabay said.

Karapatan recalled a similar pattern in the illegal arrest and detention this March of another NDFP consultant and 12 other individuals in the raid by the CIDG-PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines in Caloocan and Quezon City.

But Cabunoc insisted that Silva has to face criminal cases filed by the family members of the victims of NPA purges in Leyte.

"It is surprising that he is named as an NDF peace consultant despite his act of ordering the NPA to wage armed violence against the people in the countryside. They could not prove that they are indeed listed in the JASIG protected personalities as they could not present any evidence to prove this claim," he said, confirming that Silva was arrested together with his wife and de Lima.

He said Silva was facing 15 counts of murder issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 18 of Hilongos, Leyte.

He said a mass grave in the hinterlands along the municipal boundary of Mahaplag, Hindang and Inopacan, all of Leyte, were found by elements of 43rd Infantry Battalion on August 27, 2006.

"Our troops exhumed 68 skeletal remains, which led officials and the media to dub the place as the 'Inopacan mass graves'. Silva is just one of the 52 others who were accused of involvement in this massacre," Cabunoc said.

"He is the Secretary of the National Organizational Department that is in charge of the recruitment of cadres, units, and organization and works for the Secretariat of the CPP. He was first elected to the Central Committee during the 9th Plenum on June to November 1985, which was held in Nueva Vizcaya and changed venues until they reached Bondoc Peninsula. He was re-elected to the Central Committee during the 10th Plenum on July to August 1992," he added.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/111770/afp-karapatan-clash-on-arrest-of-silva