Govt workers' union files more complaints vs 'stalking,' threatening visits by military agents

From InterAksyon (Jul 1): Govt workers' union files more complaints vs 'stalking,' threatening visits by military agents



Officers of COURAGE, joined by Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, hold up signs calling for an end to their harassment by military agents before filing a new set of complaints before the CHR on Wednesday. (photo courtesy of COURAGE)

For the second time in less than a month, officers and members of a government workers’ union trooped to the Commission on Human Rights in Quezon City Wednesday to file complaints against what they called the intensified “stalking” by apparent military agents who, in some instances, openly visited and threatened them in their homes or offices.

The Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees, or COURAGE, said among those who filed the complaints were:

• Elvie Prudencio, president of the National Wages and Productivity Commission Employees Association and national president of the Department of Labor and Employment Employees Union
• Erwin Lanuza, president of Kasamaka QC (union of QC Hall employees) and national president of the League of LGU Employees
• Benny Angeles, an MMDA retiree and former officer of the KKK-MMDA union
• COURAGE National Office Secretariat members Rowena Rosales, Oliver Rosales, Juan Alexander “Bob” Reyes, Generosa “Nay Lance” Manilag, Chito Juliano, Romeo Manilag and Raquel Toquero

COURAGE first filed complaints before the CHR on June 8. These involved “poison letters Red-tagging our leaders and threatening them should they refuse to cooperate,” COURAGE national president Ferdinand Gaite said in a statement.

However, instead of putting an end to the harassment, he said “the threats have become even more brazen and increasing, this time involving not just our leaders anymore but also COURAGE National staff and organizers.”

“We are racing against time, hoping that the CHR would act urgently before things could get a lot worse than they already are,” Gaite said, in an apparent reference to the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances that have often followed vilification campaigns against activists and others who state security forces openly tag of being “enemies of the state” or sympathizers of the communist revolutionary movement.

Earlier, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan also decried what it called a worsening pattern of “coordinated harassment” against activists and leaders of people’s organizations in the run-up to President Benigno Aquino III’s last state of the nation address on July 27.

COURAGE said Prudencio and Lanuza were visited at their offices on separate dates by unidentified men in plainclothes who accused them of being ranking communist leaders and urged them to “turn themselves in before it’s too late.”

“In Prudencio’s case, the man introduced himself as from the Office of the President,” the union said.
Angeles and Reyes, on the other hand, were separately visited in their homes on June 16 by men who introduced themselves as military agents “and left numbers they are supposed to call should they opt for redemption.”

They were also told to “blame themselves if something bad happens to them and their families.”
Generosa Manilag was visited on June 20.

During these incidents, COURAGE said, the “visitors” often came with a team, all stocky, sporting crew cuts and carrying “sling bags.”

In their affidavits, Romeo Manilag and Juliano said they were in a jeepney rented by COURAGE coming from a rally at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process last Friday when it was tailed by a man riding a motorcycle who they had earlier seen taking photographs of union staff during the protest.

The Rosales couple said they had noticed men tailing them to and from their home and also said a former colleague had told them about military men who had visited him asking for the whereabouts of Oliver Rosales.

“We call on the state to stop the harassment of unionists and activists,” Gaite said. “We condemn the threats on organizers and leaders of COURAGE who are merely exercising their constitutional and democratic rights to organize unions, enter into collective negotiations and engage in peaceful concerted action. These persons claiming to be from the military and the police should stop stalking civilians.”

Gaite also lashed out at Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs office chief, who challenged COURAGE to substantiate its accusations, saying “we have photos, CCTV footage, logbook entries” and other proof against the alleged military agents, “and we will not stop until this harassment is over.”

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/113421/govt-workers-union-files-more-complaints-vs-stalking-threatening-visits-by-military-agents