Sagada 11
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Footloose punks become rights martyrs
By Tomi Uysingco, The Manila Times School of Journalism
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/dec/10/yehey/top_stories/20061210top3.
html
I’m a sometime volunteer of Food Not Bombs, a vegetarian antiwar group
set to feed the hungry of the city. The FNB, as we call it, was founded
in the United States and soon sprouted many chapters around the world,
particularly here in the Philippines. Most advocates are from the punk
community. They sport tattoos, wear black outfits and listen to heavy
metal music. But this is not about me nor is it about the FNB; this is
about the FNB comrades who we call the “Sagada 11.”
On February 14, Valentine’s Day, 11 punks-who are regular Food Not Bombs
volunteers-were hitchhiking from Buguias to Sagada, Mountain Province,
after a gig in Tarlac when police stopped their vehicle.
The police arrested them without warrants and brought them to Camp
Molintas in Abatan, a barangay of Buguias. There, they learned that New
People’s Army (NPA) rebels had attacked a military outpost in Cabiten,
Mankayan, on February 10.
The punks found themselves of being part of the rebel team. They
initially denied involvement. But torture, including suffocation,
electrocution, submersion in water and simulated executions sapped their
will and forced them to “confess.”
The Cordillera Human-Rights Alliance (CHRA) based in Baguio, local
counterpart of the national human-rights organization Karapatan,
identified the people responsible for the arrests and forced confessions
as members of the 1604th Provincial Mobile Group (PPMG) and 3rd Coy
Regional Mobile Group, Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The NPA Chadli Molitas Command issued a statement on February 20, a week
after the arrests, disowning the punks, saying they were just tourists
who’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In a separate statement, the Jennifer Cariño Command of NPA-Benguet
noted that Benguet Provincial Police Office’s record of alleged
brutality toward union members at the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co.
Rebels called on the police to release the “innocent punkistas.”
International petition
Food Not Bombs and Earth First! Philippines also contend the arrests
were illegal, not based on any hard evidence. These two groups insist
the Sagada 11 are not rebels; they are environmentalists with a yen for
the alternative lifestyle.
“The actions done by the Benguet Police are definitely wrong; however
you look at it… These acts deserve condemnation, if not punishment by
recalling all those involved from their duties. The Sagada 11 are
innocent, adventure-loving trekkers… Most likely, due to the macho,
prejudiced and unintelligent nature of police officers and the
backwardness of the police institution itself, they have assumed that
these individuals are communists and armed rebels due to the fact that
they look and dress different, as punks tend to dress differently,” said
the petition of Food Not Bombs in brief.
The petition can be accessed at this website:
http://www.petitiononline.com/sagada/petition.html
On March 11, 2006, over 1,000 individuals and several local and
international organizations have taken up the cause of the Sagada 11 and
signed the petition.
In the Philippines organizations such as a-Manila.org (web), Earth
First! Philippines, Local Anarchist Network, Food Not Bombs, Project
Aperture and Not for Sale are among the signatories.
On September 5 Food Not Bombs organized a benefit concert at Kolumn Bar,
Timog. It also showed a short film containing an interview with the
detainees. Also on November 3 a dozen people went to the Philippine
Embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens, London, United Kingdom, to
petition the case of the Sagada 11. Police turned away protesters but a
small group managed to enter the embassy and seek audience.
Brighton ABC, an anarchist group, also called a day of protest on
November 17, sending telephone calls, faxes, letters and e-mail to the
prison of the detainees as well as the Philippine Embassy in London, to
press the immediate and unconditional release of the detained. Other
demonstrations included a rally in front of the Baguio Justice Hall and
other mobilizations in Japan, Germany and New Zealand.
Questions
Nine months after the arrests and alleged torture, all but two minors
remain detained in the Benguet Provincial Jail. They have been charged
with murder and arson.
To date no court hearing has been scheduled to hear the merits of the
accusations.
The government needs to answer some serious questions in connection with
the Sagada 11.
How can an incident four days after the commission of an alleged crime
be covered by warrantless arrests?
How can President Arroyo, a caring mother by all accounts, ignore the
plight of youth held in jail for nine months without trial?
If protectors of the law lead in violating basic rights, where do we
seek redress?
And what is the media doing about all of this? Where is the media anyway?
If you want answers to this questions or show support to the Sagada 11
you could do so by writing to Darwin Alagar, Cell 1 (age 21); Rundren
Lao, Cell 3 (age 24); Jefferson de la Rosa, Cell 3 (age 22); Metro
Villegracia, Cell 4 (age 24); Neil Russell Balajadia, Cell 5 (age 25);
Ronron Pandino, Cell 8 (age 23); Arvie Nunez, Cell 8 (age 23); Aldous
Christian Mafosa, Cell 9 (age 19); and Anderson Alonzo, Cell 12 (age 18)
c/o Jail Warden James Simon, Benguet Provincial Jail, Justice Hill, La
Trinidad, Benguet, 2601, Philippines, or call the prison itself at
(0063) 744222304.
Or, better yet, you could go ask your congressman, your governor, your
PNP police chief, your Supreme Court, President Arroyo, or even your
favorite deity to protect our rights.
Copyright (c) 2001 The Manila Times | Terms of Service
The Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
Footloose punks become rights martyrs
By Tomi Uysingco, The Manila Times School of Journalism
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/dec/10/yehey/top_stories/20061210top3.
html
I’m a sometime volunteer of Food Not Bombs, a vegetarian antiwar group
set to feed the hungry of the city. The FNB, as we call it, was founded
in the United States and soon sprouted many chapters around the world,
particularly here in the Philippines. Most advocates are from the punk
community. They sport tattoos, wear black outfits and listen to heavy
metal music. But this is not about me nor is it about the FNB; this is
about the FNB comrades who we call the “Sagada 11.”
On February 14, Valentine’s Day, 11 punks-who are regular Food Not Bombs
volunteers-were hitchhiking from Buguias to Sagada, Mountain Province,
after a gig in Tarlac when police stopped their vehicle.
The police arrested them without warrants and brought them to Camp
Molintas in Abatan, a barangay of Buguias. There, they learned that New
People’s Army (NPA) rebels had attacked a military outpost in Cabiten,
Mankayan, on February 10.
The punks found themselves of being part of the rebel team. They
initially denied involvement. But torture, including suffocation,
electrocution, submersion in water and simulated executions sapped their
will and forced them to “confess.”
The Cordillera Human-Rights Alliance (CHRA) based in Baguio, local
counterpart of the national human-rights organization Karapatan,
identified the people responsible for the arrests and forced confessions
as members of the 1604th Provincial Mobile Group (PPMG) and 3rd Coy
Regional Mobile Group, Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The NPA Chadli Molitas Command issued a statement on February 20, a week
after the arrests, disowning the punks, saying they were just tourists
who’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In a separate statement, the Jennifer Cariño Command of NPA-Benguet
noted that Benguet Provincial Police Office’s record of alleged
brutality toward union members at the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co.
Rebels called on the police to release the “innocent punkistas.”
International petition
Food Not Bombs and Earth First! Philippines also contend the arrests
were illegal, not based on any hard evidence. These two groups insist
the Sagada 11 are not rebels; they are environmentalists with a yen for
the alternative lifestyle.
“The actions done by the Benguet Police are definitely wrong; however
you look at it… These acts deserve condemnation, if not punishment by
recalling all those involved from their duties. The Sagada 11 are
innocent, adventure-loving trekkers… Most likely, due to the macho,
prejudiced and unintelligent nature of police officers and the
backwardness of the police institution itself, they have assumed that
these individuals are communists and armed rebels due to the fact that
they look and dress different, as punks tend to dress differently,” said
the petition of Food Not Bombs in brief.
The petition can be accessed at this website:
http://www.petitiononline.com/sagada/petition.html
On March 11, 2006, over 1,000 individuals and several local and
international organizations have taken up the cause of the Sagada 11 and
signed the petition.
In the Philippines organizations such as a-Manila.org (web), Earth
First! Philippines, Local Anarchist Network, Food Not Bombs, Project
Aperture and Not for Sale are among the signatories.
On September 5 Food Not Bombs organized a benefit concert at Kolumn Bar,
Timog. It also showed a short film containing an interview with the
detainees. Also on November 3 a dozen people went to the Philippine
Embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens, London, United Kingdom, to
petition the case of the Sagada 11. Police turned away protesters but a
small group managed to enter the embassy and seek audience.
Brighton ABC, an anarchist group, also called a day of protest on
November 17, sending telephone calls, faxes, letters and e-mail to the
prison of the detainees as well as the Philippine Embassy in London, to
press the immediate and unconditional release of the detained. Other
demonstrations included a rally in front of the Baguio Justice Hall and
other mobilizations in Japan, Germany and New Zealand.
Questions
Nine months after the arrests and alleged torture, all but two minors
remain detained in the Benguet Provincial Jail. They have been charged
with murder and arson.
To date no court hearing has been scheduled to hear the merits of the
accusations.
The government needs to answer some serious questions in connection with
the Sagada 11.
How can an incident four days after the commission of an alleged crime
be covered by warrantless arrests?
How can President Arroyo, a caring mother by all accounts, ignore the
plight of youth held in jail for nine months without trial?
If protectors of the law lead in violating basic rights, where do we
seek redress?
And what is the media doing about all of this? Where is the media anyway?
If you want answers to this questions or show support to the Sagada 11
you could do so by writing to Darwin Alagar, Cell 1 (age 21); Rundren
Lao, Cell 3 (age 24); Jefferson de la Rosa, Cell 3 (age 22); Metro
Villegracia, Cell 4 (age 24); Neil Russell Balajadia, Cell 5 (age 25);
Ronron Pandino, Cell 8 (age 23); Arvie Nunez, Cell 8 (age 23); Aldous
Christian Mafosa, Cell 9 (age 19); and Anderson Alonzo, Cell 12 (age 18)
c/o Jail Warden James Simon, Benguet Provincial Jail, Justice Hill, La
Trinidad, Benguet, 2601, Philippines, or call the prison itself at
(0063) 744222304.
Or, better yet, you could go ask your congressman, your governor, your
PNP police chief, your Supreme Court, President Arroyo, or even your
favorite deity to protect our rights.
Copyright (c) 2001 The Manila Times | Terms of Service
The Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.