GMA imposes 10-week deadline to solve activists’ killings

President Arroyo gave authorities yesterday a 10-week deadline to jail the suspects in a spate of execution-style killings of journalists and militant activists.

The order came a day after two leftist activists were gunned down in Kalinga and Sorsogon provinces. A tabloid photographer was also shot and killed outside his home in Malabon City Monday, but the attack could be due to a personal grudge.

"I am giving a 10-week deadline for the Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police to jail suspects in at least 10 media or leftist killings," Mrs. Arroyo said in a directive issued before chairing a Cabinet meeting.

"I continue to condemn media and leftist killings in the strongest terms and I have ordered law enforcement to dig deeper into the motives involved," the President said. "These cases could be personally or poltically motivated but whatever the score, it is the full intent of the government to check all criminal acts and uphold the rule of law."

She, however, did not say what would happen to officials of these agencies if her deadline is not met.

Three gunmen shot photojournalist Dick Melendres of the tabloid Tanod outside his home in Letre, Malabon and police suspect the attack could be related to the murder of his cousin in May.

Leftist student leader Reimon Guran, 21, was shot dead by two gunmen as he waited for a bus in Bulan town in Sorsogon.

Just an hour after his killing, Constancio Claver, a provincial leader of the leftist political party Bayan Muna, and his wife were ambushed in Kalinga. The wife died while Claver is in critical condition.

Melendres was the fourth journalist to be killed this year, after seven were killed in 2005, making the Philippines the world’s second most dangerous place for journalists next to Iraq.

Bayan Muna said 104 of its members had been killed by what they suspected to be military "death squads" since Mrs. Arroyo assumed office in 2001. The claim is denied by the military, which accuses the party of being a front for the rebel Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army.

Mrs. Arroyo imposed the deadline apparently in response to the reported lackluster performance of the PNP’s Task Force Usig, which was tasked to solve the killings of journalists and left-leaning activists.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the government will provide protection to witnesses who may provide information and testify on the killings.

"There is no room for armed vigilantism in a democratic system," Bunye said. "This government will not tolerate a reign of violence whether directed against militants, persons in authority or ordinary folk."

He expressed confidence that the DOJ and the PNP would be able to meet the deadline amid fears that the police would resort to presenting fall guys to comply with Mrs. Arroyo’s deadline.

"I don’t think they’ll cut corners to be able to meet the 10-week deadline but we’re confident that they should be able to come up with significant gains during this period," he said. "(Mrs. Arroyo) would like some results to be produced as far as these cases are concerned."

Bunye rejected speculation that the military is behind the killings. He said the military has a system of monitoring its ranks to enforce discipline.

When asked to comment on the warning of the Commission on Human Rights that the Philippines might be sanctioned by the United Nations (UN) for failing to stop the killings, Bunye said, "I guess that’s precisely the reason why the President came out with a 10-week deadline."

International scrutiny

CHR Chairwoman Purificacion Quisumbing earlier said Mrs. Arroyo should take decisive action to stop the spate of killings and warned that the Philippines might face international scrutiny.

Quisumbing raised the prospect of the Philippines facing a so-called "universal peer review"soon or before the termination of the Philippines’s chairmanship of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in May.

"The government should do something... the government should stop these killings. The cases (of political killings) are growing," she noted. "It is very, very critical for (the government) to be prepared to answer these issues before the UNHRC."

Quisumbing explained that the peer review is a "universal scrutiny" of every country on the delivery of its pledges to the UNHRC, and on their compliance to international human rights treaties they acceded to.

She noted that the pledges made by the Philippines enabled its election to the UNHRC.

Quisumbing warned that the Philippines might be blacklisted in the UN if it continues to fail in reporting its human rights status to the international treaty monitoring bodies.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr. said police efforts and resources are being re-directed to focus on the solution of these murders, including fielding more investigators to assist local units handling these cases.

"We are optimistic that we can deliver the goods within the given time frame," Pagdilao told a press briefing.

"We assure that we will give our best effort to get to the bottom of these cases. However, our own efforts should be complemented by the willingness to help and cooperation of witnesses to achieve the goal," he added.

PNP chief Director General Oscar Calderon called on left-leaning organizations to come forward and to help investigators look for leads.

"We have been hearing a lot of information and speculation from the party-list groups about persons whom they suspect are behind the series of murders," Calderon said.

Military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon gave assurances yesterday that the military will cooperate in the police investigation if only to show that the military is not in involved.

Soldiers who are found involved will face justice, Esperon vowed.

Esperon asked for fairness as speculation that security forces were behind the killings continued to persist, saying that not all the killings may be politically connected.

"It is unfortunate that the AFP would be blamed for killings," he said. "But whatever we can do to help in the investigation, we will give and cooperate because we really need to get to the bottom of this."

Left-leaning activists remained skeptical of Mrs. Arroyo’s sincerity in solving the killings.

"We’re not holding our breath," said Renato Reyes, secretary-general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan. "If the PNP is really intent on solving the killings, then it should immediately undertake an investigation of the generals believed to be orchestrating the killings."

Reyes said police should investigate Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, commander of the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Division, who was accused of human rights abuses and killings in the past.

In her recent State of the Nation Address, Mrs. Arroyo raised eyebrows when she praised Palparan for curbing the communist rebel threat in Central Luzon, an insurgency hotbed.

The government has been fighting one of the world’s most tenacious Maoist insurgencies for the past 37 years. Mrs. Arroyo wants the military to end the insurgency in three regions in Luzon within two years and has vowed to provide the resources to do the job.

Leftist activists suspect the government of involvement in the series of killings of left-wing activists that leftists and human rights advocates charged was part of a military-backed campaign.

Many leftist groups are seen as fronts of the communist insurgency and have been at the forefront of efforts to oust Mrs. Arroyo over allegations of cheating in the 2004 presidential election.

In February, Mrs. Arroyo declared a state of national emergency to counter a reported coup by rogue military officers allied with communist rebels and elements of the opposition.

Government and security officials deny allegations that the government is carrying out a campaign against leftist leaders and activists. National security adviser Norberto Gonzales insists that the spate of killings is a result of an ongoing communist rebel purge.

US Ambassador Kristie Kenney had earlier this year voiced Washington’s concern over the killings of leftist militants and journalists. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe, James Mananghaya, Katherine Adraneda, Christina Mendez, Charlie Lagasca, Artemio Dumlao, Mike Baños