Village councilman, accused as NPA tax collector, shot and decapitated, in Guinobatan, Albay province, Philippines - KARAPATAN Human Rights Update

The old Google Groups will be going away soon, but your browser is incompatible with the new version.

« Groups Home

KARAPATAN Human Rights Update

Home

Updates

About this group

Join this group

Village councilman, accused as NPA tax collector, shot and decapitated, in Guinobatan, Albay province, Philippines

Options

1 message - Collapse all

Urgent Action Alerts KARAPATAN

View profile

More options Nov 15 2012, 6:10 am

From: Urgent Action Alerts KARAPATAN

Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:10:38 +0800

Local: Thurs, Nov 15 2012 6:10 am

Subject: Village councilman, accused as NPA tax collector, shot and decapitated, in Guinobatan, Albay province, Philippines

Print | Individual message | Report this message | Find messages by this author

*Village councilman, accused as NPA tax collector,
*

*shot and decapitated, in Guinobatan, Albay province, Philippines*

UA No: 2012-11-01

*UA Case :*

Extrajudicial killing; Desecration of remains

*Victim/s :*

*ELY M. OGUIS*

- Male, 60 years old, married
- Baranggay (village) councilor of Cabaloaon
- Member, Albay People’s Organization

*Place of Incident :*

Sitio Palapbuton, Brgy. Cabaloaon, Municipality of Guinobatan, province of
Albay

*Date of Incident :*

November 11, 2012

*Alleged Perpetrator(s) :*

Unidentified assailant/s believed to be members of the 2nd Infantry
Battalion of the Philippine Army

*Account of the Incident:*

* *

On November 11, 2012, *Ely Oguis* left his home at 7:00 am to report for
duty as village councilor at Baranggay Cabaloaon Hall. His stayed at the
baranggay hall from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, and did not immediately go home. As
his practice, Ely socialized with neighbors and other village residents
after work.

On the evening of November 11, Ely met with fellow baranggay councilor
Juanito Samaupan, and neighbor Rodrigo Mirabite for a drink. They were
joined in by 2nd IBPA detachment commander Corporal Gilbert Ramos and
another soldier known only as “Patoy”.

According to Sumaupan, the group had a few bottles of beer elsewhere before
they transferred to another store owned by Ely’s daughter Marlyn. The two
soldiers left past 10:00 pm, and Ely followed shortly at around 10:30 pm.

Around 11:00 in the evening, some of the residents heard a volley of
gunfire that lasted for a few seconds. Councilor Sumaupan later went to
Marlyn, who is also a neighbor, to check with if Ely arrived home safely.
Marlyn called up her sibling and was told that Ely was not home yet. Not
suspecting anything, Sumaopan went back home.

On November 12, 2012, around 1:00am, village councilor Minda Samaupan, with
three others were on their way home from a wake in another village in Brgy.
Batbat. When they reached Sitio Palapbuton, Brgy. Cabaloaon, the group’s
flashlight shone upon a person lying along the road. At first, the group
thought the person was just drunk and asleep but they were surprised when
they saw that the person was beheaded.

They immediately informed the village chief. But because the road is dark,
the village chief and other councilors decided to wait for daylight. At
around 5:00am, village officers examined the body. They found the
decapitated head more than a meter away from the body, almost buried in
mud, and identified it as Ely Oguis. The ears were hacked off and were
never found.

Ely’s wife and other family members were immediately informed. The cadaver
was brought to a funeral parlor in Guinobatan town proper for autopsy.

Initial information gathered by Karapatan-Bikol revealed that Ely sustained
five gunshot wounds in the chest causing severe damage to the lungs and
heart. The decapitated head also bore signs of being hit a hard object.

Conflicting statements were issued by the AFP. On November 12, Major Narzan
Obuyes, spokesperson of the 2nd Infantry Batallion, issued a statement to
the media that an armed encounter between the New People’s Army and
military occurred at the AFP detachment in Brgy. Cabaloaon[1] <#_ftn1>.
According to Col. Ricardo Visaya, commanding officer of the 901st Brigade
based in Daraga, Albay, Ely Oguis was an NPA tax collector and may have
been killed by the NPA as punishment for not remitting collections[2]<#_ftn2>.
Spokesperson of the Philippine Army 9th Infantry Division, Maj. Angelo
Guzman, reported to the media that Oguis, who was small-scale coconut
plantation owner, was killed by the NPA for not paying taxes to the
revolutionary group[3] <#_ftn3>.

The NDFP-Bicol however denied these accusations by the military and issued
a statement saying that there was neither NPA presence in the village nor
an encounter.[4] <#_ftn4>.

In July 2011, there was heavy deployment of soldiers from the 2nd IB to 11
villages in Guinobatan, Albay, including Brgy. Cabaloaon. The soldiers
temporarily used the Baranggay Hall as their detachment before setting up
their own detachment in the village center, near the Baranggay Hall.

Karapatan-Bicol documented several cases of threats and harassment of
residents by soldiers, including Ely. On August 21, 2011, soldiers known
only as Ontolan and Amolar invited Ely to the military detachment near the
Baranggay Hall. According to Ely’s sworn statement, Ontolan and Amolar
accused him of being a member of the NPA, and told him to leave the group.
Ely vehemently denied the accusations and asserted that he is village
councilor.

Karapatan noted that the military made a similar statement on to the
killing *of Bayan Muna member Rodel
Estrellado<http://www.karapatan.org/node/424>
*.

Rodel was abducted in a village in Malilipot, Albay on February 25, 20ll,
by four armed men who introduced themselves as member of the Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency. Maj. Harold Cabunoc, then spokesperson of the
9thID, also announced to the media that an encounter between soldiers
and NPA
occurred in Brgy. Buluang, Municipality of Bato, Camarines Sur which
resulted in the death of an “NPA member Elmer Estrellado.” The remains of
Rodel Estrellado were found by his family on February 27, 2011 at a funeral
parlor under the name Elmer Estrellado.

* *

*UA Date :*

15 November 2012

* *

*Recommended Action:*

* *

Please send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:

1. The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and
investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups,
the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will
look into the extrajudicial killing and desecration of remains of village
councilor Ely Oguis.
2. The military to stop the labeling and targeting of human rights
defenders as “members of front organizations of the communists” and
“enemies of the state.”
3. The Philippine Government to withdraw its counterinsurgency program
Oplan Bayanihan, which victimizes innnocent and unarmed civillians
4. The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory to
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to
all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of
these instruments’ provisions.

You may send your communications to:

*H.E. Benigno C. Aquino III*

President of the Republic <http://www.president.gov.ph/>

Malacañang Palace,

JP Laurel St., San Miguel

Manila Philippines

Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80

Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968

E-mail: [email address]

*Sec. Teresita Quintos-Deles*

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process

Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
(OPAPP)<http://opapp.gov.ph/contact>