Pinoy Weekly | A year since murders, Capion family, indigenous peoples’ groups still seek justice

Posted: 19 Oct 2013 02:29 AM PDT Hooded in red, indigenous people’s rights activists who protested in front of the Department of Justice said that mourning for the Capions’ will not cease after a year their violent deaths as Davao del Sur prosecutors dismissed the case against the military. (Macky Mcaspac) Indigenous peoples’ groups commemorated the first year since the death of indigenous leader Juvy Capion and her sons in Davao del Sur by picketing the Manila office of the Department of Justice (DOJ), whose prosecutor refused to file a case against the military. Members of Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (National Alliance of Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations in the Philippines, KAMP) said they protested at the DOJ, no longer in grief but in anger at the failure of the department to bring to justice supposed perpetrators of the murders. On August 5, a Digos City public prosecutor dismissed the complaint against members of the 27th Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army believed to be responsible for the indigenous leader and her two sons in Tampakan, Kimlawis, Davao del Sur. The prosecutor cited insufficient and circumstantial evidences to establish probable cause for murder in dismissing the complaint filed by Sukim Malid, father of Juvy. Earlier this year, Malid filed murder case against Lt. Col. Alexis Noel Bravo, former commanding officer of the 27th IB, Lt. Dante Jimenez, head of the 27th IB’s Bravo Company, and 14 other soldiers. Piya Macliing-Malayao, KAMP spokesperson, said that relatives and neighbors of Capion insisted that military indiscriminately fired at the victims house. The military even admitted then to media that there was a violation of the rules of engagement, as gunfire must be aimed only at determined targets. The court’s decision to dismiss the charges against Lt. Bravo and the others is outrageous. How can the testimony of a survivor of the Capion massacre be insufficient and circumstantial? The other witnesses reached the crime scene only minutes after the volley of gunfire racked the Capions’ hut, and saw only members of the 27th IB in the scene, cleaning up the crime scene,” Malayao said. Juvy Capion (PW File Photo/Contribution) Malayao added that the dismissal manifested the dim situation of indigenous people in attaining justice. “The indigenous people are losing hope with the current justice system,” she said. The group challenged Justice Sec. Leila de Lima to scrutinize the prosecutors who dismissed the case and demanded reinvestigation of the case. “Dismissing the case against the military absolves the latter from the string of human rights violations and extrajudicial killings of B’laan people in Tampakan over the years. These prosecutors display incompetence and incapability to render justice for the victims,” Malayao said. Killing spree Meanwhile, according to human rights group Karapatan, killings in the area did not stop after the Capion massacre and the replacement of the 27th IB by the 39th IB. The group alleged that a special unit created by the Philippine Army to protect the interests of SMI-Xstrata, a multinational mining company in the said areas, is creating havoc to B’laan tribe. “Task Force KiTaCo (Kiblawan, Tampacan, Columbio) is still on a killing spree,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan. The group said that the Task Force was believed to be involved in the killings of Kitari Capion, Daguil’s brother, on January 29, 2013, as well as that of Sonny Boy Planda on June 28, 2013. The latest was the killing of Datu Fulong Anting Freay and his 16-year old son Victor on August 23, 2013. The murders of the B’laan people are a testament to the Aquino government’s non-recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples, and the improbability of justice under his term,” Malayao claimed. Karapatan latest data showed 32 indigenous people have been killed under the Aquino administration. This includes the Capions and Italian priest Fausto Tentorio, who was killed two years ago on October 17. The group blamed the killings and other rights violations on the governments counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan. “This is where the Php182-Billion Oplan Bayanihan Fund goes: to bombs and bullets that get through bodies of innocent civilians,” Palabay said.