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BY ROMMEL C. LONTAYAO AND WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL REPORTERS


news The Manila Times FRIDAY D e cember 10, 2010


continues to evade arrest, Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan 3rd said on Friday.


“There could be some former and incumbent politicians who are protecting Sen. Lacson,” Baraan re- plied when asked why government authorities are yet to arrest the senator who is being linked to double-murder. Lacson was implicated in the kill- ing of publicist Salvador “Bubby”


■ IMMIGRANTS FROM A1


for two years. The bill now moves to the US Senate, which is ex- pected to take up the measure Thursday morning. But its chances of clearing the chamber are con- sidered slim, as Democrats need at least 60 votes to overcome Republicans’ filibuster. US President Barack Obama sent his congratula- tions to congressional leaders immediately after the vote, and urged the Senate to pass the bill so that he can sign it into law as soon as possible. “This vote is not only the right thing to do for a group of talented young people who seek to serve a country they know as their own by continuing their education or serving in the military, but it is the right thing for the United States of America,” Obama said in a statement. “The Dream Act is not amnesty, it’ s about ac- countability, and about tapping into a pool of tal- ent we’ve already invested in,” he added. Eight Republicans crossed the party line to vote in favor of the bill.


■ DEAD FROM A1 Gunmen made sure victims dead


some of the slain victims. Cabrera had autopsied 12—10 journalists and


two civilians—of the 57 massacre victims at a fu- neral parlor in Koronadal, South Cotabato. In his testimony during the continuation of hear- ings held at the sala of Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Branch 221 of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, at the Quezon City Hall of Justice, he said that two of the victims were shot in both the front and back parts of their body while lying on the ground. Victim Jephon Cadagdagon, a reporter, sustained


two gunshot wounds, one on the right temple the size of a fist and the other in the right hip. Cabrera noted that the trajectory of the bullet


wound on Cadagdagon’s head indicated that he was shot lying face up on the ground. The position of the victim’s second wound indi- cated that he was shot lying face down. Victim McDilbert Arriola, UNTV cameraman who sustained 12 gunshot wounds and two shrap- nel wounds, also had bullet wounds that indicated he was shot at the front and back parts of his body. He bore two fatal wounds, one on his lower left jaw and the other at his upper right back.


Possible rape victim Meanwhile, another female victim, also a member of the media, may have been sexually abused be- fore she was brutally killed by the gunmen, after her pantyliners were found positive of semen. “This is a definitive evidence of sexual abuse or sexual contact 72 hours before her death,” Cabrera told the court, referring to the victim Leah Dalmacio, a reporter for the local newspaper GenSan Newsprint.


Dalmacio also sustained nine gunshot wounds in different parts of her body, two of which were in the head killing her instantly.


On Wednesday, Cabrera also testified that he found traces of semen on the body of Rahima Palawan, cousin of Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu of Maguindanao. Private prosecutor Nena Santos said that


Cabrera’s testimony further strengthened statements earlier given by three eyewitnesses who saw how the victims were killed on November 23, 2009. The eyewitnesses, Santos said, testified how the gunmen shot the victims with some of them lying face up, sideways and face down. She said that Cabrera’s testimony bolstered the testimonies of the three eyewitnesses presented by the prosecution.


Members of the Ampatuan clan and their private army are charged with the alleged murder of the 57 civilians. The victims, who were on their way to filing Mangudadatu’s certificate of candidacy, were stopped at a checkpoint, and allegedly shot to death by Andal Ampatuan Jr. and his men. The Ampatuans and the Mangudadatus are bit- ter political rivals in the province of Maguindanao. Meanwhile, Interior and Local Government Sec- retary Jesse Robredo also on Thursday said that Andal Sr. reportedly tried to bribe jail officer Emerlito Moral to help them escape from detention. Moral was allegedly offered P50 million but he declined the offer and eventually requested removal as jail warden.


Lakmudin Saliao, the first witness presented by the prosecution during the Maguindanao massacre trial, earlier testified that Andal Sr. tried to bribe government officials and police authorities to es- cape prosecution. Saliao, who served as a househelper for the Ampatuans, was also the one who told the court that the Ampatuans gathered over dinner on November 17, 2009, six days before the massacre, to plan the mass murder.


Most Republicans opposed the measure as they considered it a “mass amnesty,” arguing it would al- low even criminals and terrorists to gain legal status. Republicans also worry about the long-term ef- fect the bill would have on the country’s budget, even though the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would cut the defi- cit by $2.2 billion over the next 10 years. Asian-American and Pacific Islander student lead- ers from nearly 60 US universities earlier sent a letter to Congress, urging members to pass the Dream Act. The decision to send a letter to the US Congress


was taken up by the Youth Advisory Council, a project of the Asian American Justice Center, as many Asian- American and Pacific Islander student leaders in the US feel frustrated that passage of the historically bi- partisan legislation has been blocked. “We urge Congress to give these outstanding young people the chance to give back to America,” said Stewart Kwoh, president and executive director of the Asian Pa- cific American Legal Center in Los Angeles.


XINHUA


Fellow politicians ‘protecting’ Sen. Lacson I


T is possible that Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is getting help from fellow politicians, the reason why he


make the arrest since the senator went into hiding. Last week, the fugitive senator issued a statement, saying that he will not sur- render until “justice is rightly served, or when [he is] already dead.”


Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is- sued a statement in response, telling the senator to surrender first before laying down conditions.


Dacer and that of Dacer’s driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000. He fled on January 5 this year, or two


days before the Department of Justice filed charges against him before the Regional Trial Court of Manila. After a month, the Manila court issued a warrant of arrest against Lacson but authorities have failed to


The Court of Appeals recently de- nied Lacson’s request to suspend the arrest warrant. If the senator was ar- rested, he would be treated like an or- dinary criminal by police tracker teams, according to Philippine Na- tional Police (PNP) chief Director General Raul Bacalzo. “I would like to assure, however, our kababayans [countrymen] that even in the event that Sen. Lacson is arrested, he will not be given special treatment,”


Bacalzo said on Wednesday during the Manila Overseas Press Club Night in Makati City (Metro Manila). “Only due process of law [will be accorded the senator], I can assure you of that.” He admitted working under Lacson at the Military Intelligence and Security Group when they were still with the defunct Philippine Con- stabulary-Integrated National Police, the predecessor of the PNP, but stressed that, as a professional police officer, he has to implement the court’s order to arrest his former su- perior officer.


Lacson, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1972, later became the PNP chief and concurrent head of the defunct Philippine Anti- Organized Crime Task Force during the short-lived Estrada presidency. Bacalzo said that he has fielded dedi-


■ NOBEL FROM A1 US Congress OKs bill to help young Beijing pleased with boycott of Nobel rites


of Foreign Affairs (DFA). The Chinese ambassador, however, refused to comment on whether the boy- cott signified the Philippines’ intention to side with Beijing. The Philippines was among the 19 countries that declined to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, allegedly on muscling from China. These countries’ move triggered anger from human-rights advocates. Foreign Affairs spokesman Eduardo


Malaya told Agence France-Presse that Manila’s ambassador to Oslo, Elizabeth Buencuceso, was out of Norway on an official consular mission and cannot at- tend the awarding.


“Our ambassador to Norway has a sched- uling conflict,” he said also on Thursday. Secretary Ricky Carandang, head of the Presidential Communications Develop- ment and Strategic Planning, said that at- tendance to the Nobel ceremony is not mandatory for the Philippine government. “And the attendance to that is optional, so I don’t think that that is going to be or that should be a big issue,” he added.


Chinese pressure Carandang , however, said that he was


not aware of any pressure from China for the Philippines to skip the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo. “I’m not aware of any pressure from China for us not to attend. But it’s bet- ter to clarify with the DFA,” he added. The decision by one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies to stay away from Friday’s event in Norway came as the Philippines sought to build stronger military and economic ties with China. But two senior government officials who did not want to be named said that the move was meant to appease China, which had repeatedly warned govern- ments around the world that ties would be harmed if they attended the ceremony. China reacted furiously to the deci-


sion by the Nobel Committee to award this year’s peace prize to Liu, who was jailed for 11 years in December on sub- version charges after calling for reform of the one-party communist rule. “We do not want to further annoy China,” said a senior diplomat at the Foreign Affairs department who asked not to be named. Another Malacañang official said that


■ RAPS FROM A1 3,000 AFP, PNP MEN FACE RIGHTS RAPS


(Zamboanga Peninsula) with 241. For the Armed Forces, the biggest number of personnel facing complaints of human rights abuse was in Region XIII (Eastern Visayas), with a total of 129. This was followed by Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) with 101 Armed Forces person- nel cited in complaints, and by Region XI (Davao) with 96. Compared to 2005, there were fewer PNP and Armed Forces personnel who figured in human rights violation com- plaints in 2008. But the numbers are actually fluctuating. From 765 police and military respondents in 2005, the number rose to 846 in 2006, went down to 575 in 2007, and went up again to 624 in 2008. By mid-2009, 386 members of both forces figured in alleged human rights violations. The PNP has about 130,000 members while the Armed Forces has 113,500 ac- tive officers and 131,000 reser vists. The CHR has about 700 staffers, most of them clerical, spread out in various regions. Indicating that the commission does not have enough resources to deal with the many cases filed with it, Rosales bemoaned the slashing of the commis-


■ SALES FROM A1 Auto sales shoot up


end-November totaled 153,163 units, a number 28.9-percent higher than industry sales of 118,848 units in the same 11- month period last year. Elizabeth Lee, Campi president, said in an e-mail that the November sales data “does not include Hyundai [sales of Hyundai Asia


Resources Inc. or HARI] as the brand did not submit the sales report despite given the one- day extension which was until yesterday, close of office hours.” “All other brands submitted their


report on the regular monthly meeting day,” she added.


sion’s budget from P306 million this year to just P285 million next year. “This means our investigators will


have to dip into their own pockets for transportation to investigate cases,” she said, especially when they have to go to far-flung areas. She added that she had to persuade Budget Secretary Butch Abad to restore the cut. “The P306 million was never enough to begin with,” Rosales said. The investi- gation process in human rights cases in- volves forensic, technical and legal services. Rosales also said that the military and police need to “restructure their think- ing and consciousness” with regard to human rights issues.


“The AFP has long looked at human rights as an issue of the Left, which is an enemy,” she said. But changes may be taking place in the military and police forces. “I saw the radical transformation of the police in the Bondoc Peninsula,” she said, where the CHR conducted a nine- month human rights training through its Building Bridges for Peace program. Rosales said that the military has also assured her that it will give human rights


training to all its battalions. The Armed Forces has said that it has a manual on human rights, which it is distributing to its various services. Beyond the Armed Forces and PNP,


Rosales said that there is a need to take a holistic view of human rights in order to promote its observance and prevent violations. Human rights, she said, must become a mainstream issue and not be regarded as the concern of civil-society organizations alone. “We must address governance and so- cial accountability,” she said. In addition, Rosales said, “We envi- sion a strong and independent CHR” which must have indisputable authority over human rights issues just like the Commission on Audit’s authority over auditing matters in government. She said that the CHR must profes- sionalize its ranks and set institutional performance evaluation and targets. At the same time, it must tap technical experts who are committed to the advancement of human rights.


VERA Files is put out by veteran journal- ists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”


A HARI representative told The Manila


Times that the company submitted its sales report on Thursday. Data obtained by The Times showed


that HARI sold 1,578 units in Novem- ber, bringing to 154,741 the total industry sales. HARI had reportedly bolted Campi over


disagreements on policies. Lee said that the industry is confident of higher sales this year than the 162,000 vehicles or so sold in 1996.


President Benigno Aquino 3rd “did not want another irritant” in his govern- ment’s ties with China.


The Philippines has been working hard to repair diplomatic ties with China after the botched ending to the August 23 bus hijacking in Manila that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead.


The Philippines is also seeking to buy mili- tary hardware from China, and the Armed Forces chief, Gen. Ricardo David, is in Beijing this week on a procurement mission. Trade between the countries has been expanding since the 1990s, with China now the Philippines’ third-largest trading part- ner next to the United States and Japan.


Big shock


But human-rights advocates said that they were shocked by the decision of the Aquino administration not to attend the peace awards in Oslo. Human Rights Watch said that it was “shocked and disappointed” at the Philip- pines’ decision, especially since the coun- try had always been a leading supporter of Myanmar’s democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi, herself a Nobel laureate. “The Philippines prides itself on its democratic values, which is why it is shock- ing to see this government turning its back on Liu Xiaobo’s non-violent struggle for free expression in China,” said Elaine Pearson, the group’s deputy Asia director. “By declining the invitation to attend the


Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, the Philip- pines is failing to live up to its promises to promote human rights in Asia,” she added. Lawyer Harry Roque, the chairman of the Manila-based Center for Interna- tional Law, expressed outrage. “We should not have allowed China into bullying us not to attend the cer- emony. This is an abdication of our moral duty to the world as the source of people power, of liberal democracy,” he said. “That was a regrettable decision, be- cause in effect what we did was to sup- port an affront on freedom of expres- sion,” Roque added. From the House of Representatives, Rep.


Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna party-list said that the Aquino administration’s de- cision not to attend Friday’s ceremony showed that the issues of “human rights and peace are being held hostage.” He disclosed that the Foreign Affairs


department has argued that the Philip- pines has 100 existing bilateral agreements with China that are very productive. Liu, 54, was meted an 11-year jail sen-


tence by the Chinese government in De- cember 2009 a year after the publication of his explosive document Charter 08. Charter 08 calls for the abolition of the one-party rule and institutionalizing democratic reforms in China and was signed by a large number of human rights advocates and intellectuals inside and outside China. The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award Liu in recognition of “his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” But China will not allow Liu or any of his family members to leave the coun- try to accept the prize and its $1.4-mil- lion award in Oslo. His wife, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since the award was an- nounced October 8.


With pressure mounting on the coun- tries planning to boycott Friday’s cer- emony to reconsider, US lawmakers voted overwhelming to honor Liu. The US House of Representatives ap-


proved the symbolic message by a 402-1 margin, congratulating Liu and honoring his “promotion of democratic reform in China, and the courage with which he has borne repeated imprisonment.” The measure also urged President Barack Obama—due to host his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, for a state visit next month—to keep pushing Beijing to free Liu from prison and release his wife from house arrest. A collective of human rights groups also released a joint statement on Thurs- day calling on Beijing to release Liu. Besides the Philippines, other countries that supported the China-backed boycott in- clude Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Tunisia, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Ser- bia, Pakistan, Egypt and Morocco. Of these countries, only the Philip-


pines, Ukraine, Colombia and Serbia are ruled by democratic governments. Some of the boycotting countries share


China’s intolerance of dissent, but almost all have growing economic ties with China. WITH REPORTS FROM AFP AND LLANESCA T. PANTI


cated tracker teams under the PNP’s Criminal Investigation Group to effect the arrest warrant against the senator. He also admitted that they remained clueless on the whereabouts of Lacson despite their relentless manhunt for the senator but that they would be able to get him soon. “Hopefully,” Bacalzo said. “Well, I


just say that the boys are out there. We cannot just telegraph the operational data that we have now but of course we are doing it [manhunt] both inde- pendently and in coordination with other law-enforcement agencies.” He added that the PNP has been receiving a lot of information about Lacson.


Bacalzo denied reports that a high official in the Aquino administration is coddling Lacson.


He took in stride the refusal of In-


terior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo to put up a P2-million reward for the arrest of Lacson. The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, however, this week be- gan a fund drive to raise the bounty. “I respect [Robredo] for his decision.


Perhaps he has the wisdom and perhaps he has the reason [for turning down] what the PNP recommended about two months ago [for] a P2-million bounty for any information that could to [Lacson’s] arrest,” Bacalzo said. Based on immigration records, the


fugitive senator left the country on January 7, the same day he was charged with double-murder, on board Cathay Pacific Flight 904 bound for Hong Kong.


Immigration records also show- ed that Lacson has not returned from abroad.


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