Press Statement
Reference: Vince Casilihan
Spokesperson, Karapatan-Bikol
Karapatan Bikol- strongly condemns the massacre of Julio Labiano, Rene Labiano, Salem Virtus, and Jessie Brondia, small scale miners in Caramoan, Camariness Sur who were mercilessly killed by Bantay Kalikasan Task Force of Camarines Sur.
The cold-blooded murder is another chilling case of
political killing in Bicol. The poor
victims eke out a living by engaging in small scale mining in their barangay. The perpetrators are members of the Civilian
Security Unit (CSU) of the provincial government of Camarines Sur assigned to Task force Bantay Kalikasan. It is hard to dismiss that the killing is an
isolated case and has nothing to do with the powers-that-be in Camarines
Sur. Small scale mining is hot in the
eyes of politicians in the province and of the military.
The
perpetrators did not only snap out the lives of the poor and defenseless
victims but sent their families to farther destitution. The massacre was intended to cause a shivering
fear to those who may get the ire of those in power and to those who may
knowingly or unknowingly stepped into the sphere of economic interest of the
powerful ‘untouchables”.
Political
killings continue with impunity. Perpetrators who are members of the State
security forces are having a heyday inflicting state violence on hapless
civilians. The victims of extrajudicial killings in Bicol now reach 46 under
the watch of President Benigno S. Aquino III. The list is
still growing as this government
turned a deaf ear to the national and international calls to put an end to
political killings, end impunity,
bring the perpetuators to justice, and indemnify the victims of human
rights violations.
Karapatan-Bikol
demands an impartial, independent, and
thorough investigation with due
diligence on the case of the massacre of
the four small scale miners of
Caramoan and on all victims of extrajudicial killings and other form of human
rights violations and bring the offenders to justice.
Karapatan-Bikol joins other
groups in the call for the ouster
of Benigno Simeon Aquino III for incompetence in protecting, upholding, defending and
satisfying the comprehensive human rights of all Filipinos, for being
ultra-subservient to US imperialism by unashamedly and unconscientiously
implementing the US designed counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan (OPB) that kills and maims Filipinos, uproot villages, subverts
due process by filing trumped-up cases, and effect illegal arrests and
detention.
