VZCZCXRO7427
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #2096/01 1370650
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O 170650Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1042
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 002096 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PTER PINS PREL RP
SUBJECT: GRP FORMS TASK FORCE TO INVESTIGATE KILLINGS OF 
LEFTIST ACTIVISTS 
 
REF: MANILA 1452 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified -- Please 
handle accordingly. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Summary:  Eleven more leftist activists have been 
killed in attacks since late March.  President Arroyo has 
formed a police task force to investigate the killings.  Some 
GRP officials are suggesting that the continued killings are 
the result of an internal "purge" being conducted by the 
Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army 
(CPP/NPA).  They have also claimed that "mass graves" of 
victims have been found, though they have not provided 
evidence of that.  The creation of the task force is good 
news, but it needs to show results.  Mission, at all levels, 
continues to underscore the need for respect of the rule of 
law and an end to the culture of impunity.  End Summary. 
 
------------- 
More Killings 
------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Since late March, 11 more leftist/labor activists 
have been killed in attacks that have taken place throughout 
the Philippines.  Of these, eight were members of Bayan Muna, 
a front group for the CPP/NPA.  The most recent killing took 
place on May 16 when the secretary-general of Bayan Muna's 
Pangasinan (a province northwest of Manila) chapter was shot 
and killed in an ambush while riding a motorcycle.  On May 9, 
Reverend Jeremias Tinambacan, a United Church of Christ 
pastor and a provincial chairperson of Bayan Muna, was gunned 
down in Misamis Occidental in northwest Mindanao.  His wife, 
who was wounded in the incident, claimed to recognize one of 
the assailants as a military informer.  These latest slayings 
have occurred against a backdrop of escalating violence -- so 
far this year, 28 leftist/labor activists have been killed 
nationwide, compared to around 40 for the whole year of 2005 
(see reftel for further details).  Bayan Muna claims that the 
most recent killings have pushed to 93 the number of its 
members slain since 2001. 
 
----------------------- 
Presidential Task Force 
----------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Responding quickly to the recent rash of killings, 
President Arroyo denounced the attacks and announced that she 
had ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to create a 
task force to investigate.  Task Force "Usig" (meaning "to 
prosecute"), headed by PNP Deputy Director General Avelino 
Razon, Jr., is charged with creating a detailed database 
containing profiles of suspects, victims, incidents, 
intelligence summaries, forensic investigations, and an 
assessment of the progress of each case.  Razon told the 
press that witnesses will be afforded protection under the 
Justice Department's Witness Protection Program.  He 
indicated that reward money might be offered to those 
providing information that leads to the arrest and 
prosecution of the perpetrators.  Razon, who is 
well-respected, urged relatives and friends of the victims to 
come forward with evidence related to the killings, adding 
that police investigations had been hampered by a lack of 
interaction with those close to the victims. 
 
¶5.  (U) The setting up of the task force met with widespread 
press and public approval.  Leftist groups, however, 
dismissed the GRP's action as "a whitewash," claiming that 
the government had chosen not to really investigate the 
crimes because elements of the military are responsible. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Claims of Purges and Mass Graves 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In a new twist, some Philippine government 
officials are suggesting publicly that the continued killings 
of activists is the result of an internal "purge" being 
conducted by the CPP/NPA.  National Security Advisor (NSA) 
Norberto Gonzales and Department of Interior and Local 
Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno both recently made this 
claim, averring that the purge is recent and similar to the 
well-documented CPP/NPA purges that occurred in the 1980s. 
On May 14, Gonzales went on to claim that the military and 
police had uncovered "mass graves" that contain the bodies of 
recent purge victims.  According to Gonzales, three separate 
sites -- two in Mindanao and one in Tarlac, an area north of 
Manila -- have been discovered, one containing 20 dead 
bodies.  Despite Gonzales' assertions, no other sources have 
 
MANILA 00002096  002 OF 002 
 
 
verified the existence of the alleged graves.  Mission 
contacts at the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) 
and other organizations said they were completely unaware of 
any evidence supporting the claims.  CHR said it would 
continue to look into the matter. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The creation of the task force is good news, but it 
needs to show results.  The slayings are netting an 
increasing amount of public attention and human rights NGOs 
are clamoring for action.  In addition to the killings of 
leftist activists, there continue to be killings of 
journalists, judges and criminal suspects, most of which are 
unresolved.  Mission, at all levels, continues to underscore 
the need for respect of the rule of law and an end to the 
culture of impunity. 
 
Visit Embassy Manila's Classified SIPRNET website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/ 
 
Kenney