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FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5135
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 000458 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KCRM RP
SUBJECT: PROGRESS AGAINST POLITICAL KILLINGS 
 
REF: A. 06 MANILA 4811 
 
     ¶B. 06 MANILA 4464 
     ¶C. 06 MANILA 4359 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Philippine police have succeeded in 
filing additional cases in politically-related killings, 
leading to at least four convictions and dismissals of two 
police officials.  They continue to investigate a large 
number of other deaths of leftists and journalists claimed by 
various groups, although they have ruled out many as stemming 
from other, non-political motives.  Many systemic problems 
and inadequacies remain, which the police reported to the 
Presidential-level Melo Commission for possible action. 
(Septel will report on Justice Melo's recommendations to 
President Arroyo.)  A senior military official now 
participates in the police task force handling these 
killings.  Concerns are growing about additional political 
violence in the run-up to the May 2007 elections.  Police 
insist that the Philippine government has a "firm policy of 
protecting democratic space and fundamental liberties," and 
would not tolerate "the persecution or elimination of 
radicals, journalists or opponents."  End Summary. 
 
Progress report 
--------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  In a meeting with Pol/C and poloffs on February 8, 
Philippine National Police (PNP) Task Force Usig Commander 
General Avelino Razon provided an update on its 
investigations into alleged cases of the slayings of party 
list/militant group members and journalists over the past 
five years (reftels).  Out of a total of 115 cases involving 
the former and 26 of the latter as of February 8: 
--  70 cases have been filed in court (up from 67 in November 
-- ref a); 
--  33 individuals have been arrested in 42 different cases; 
--  four individuals have been convicted (compared to 2 in 
November); 
--  71 cases remain under active investigation (66 involving 
leftists); 
--  two police superintendents were relieved of duties in 
2006 due to suspected involvement in such killings; 
--  in a new crackdown on weapons in 2006, police seized 181 
"assorted firearms" and 5,420 "illegal weapons" and charged 
4,540 suspects in court. 
 
Cross-referencing 
----------------- 
 
¶3.  (U)  Task Force Usig obtained (in some cases through 
third parties) lists of alleged cases compiled by NGOs, 
including the leftist human right group Karapatan (claiming a 
total of 783 killings), the International Peasant Solidarity 
Mission (claiming 22 deaths), Amnesty International (claiming 
57 victims), the leftist Bayan Muna political party (claiming 
116 deaths), the Government of the Republic of the 
Philippines' Monitoring Committee on peace talks with the 
National Democratic Front (claiming 184 deaths), and National 
Union of Journalists of the Philippines (claiming 45 slain 
journalists).  While there is some overlap on these lists, 
General Razon said that police investigations had been able 
to "exclude" 411 cases.  In some cases, police succeeded in 
locating the alleged "victim," still alive.  Other cases were 
directly linked to narcotics, gambling, robbery, or other 
criminal acts without a political component.  In many cases, 
police determined that the victim had no known party 
affiliation that would suggest a political motive.  Task 
Force Usig continues to investigate 490 of the claimed 
additional cases, although Karapatan refuses even to meet 
with the Task Force, according to General Razon. 
 
Patterns 
-------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  The PNP statistics indicated a concentration of 
the alleged leftist killings in Central Luzon and Southern 
Tagalog (eastern Luzon) Regions, with no cases at all in 
Western or Central Mindanao Regions or in the Autonomous 
Region in Muslim Mindanao.  General Razon confirmed 
suspicions that the Luzon killings may be linked to the 
then-presence of now-retired but still highly controversial 
Major General Jovito Palparan, although he noted that there 
was little or no hard evidence directly linking Palparan or 
units under his command to such killings. 
 
¶5.  (U)  For journalists, the most dangerous areas included 
the Southern Tagalog Region but also Western and Central 
Mindanao.  General Razon confirmed that the suspected killers 
in these handful of cases (only two in 2006, compared to five 
in 2005 and six in 2004) were officials of Local Government 
 
MANILA 00000458  002 OF 003 
 
 
Units retaliating against "hard-hitting reporters."  Two 
mayors and two village ("barangay") chairmen have already 
surrendered, with charges now filed against them.  Two police 
and one soldier have been arrested in other cases. 
 
Asking for help 
--------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  General Razon shared a copy of a November 21 
letter he sent to Justice Jose Melo, head of the 
Presidential-level Commission set up to provide policy 
recommendations to the government on these "unexplained" 
killings.  His recommendations included: 
--  stronger police/prosecutor cooperation (General Razon 
expressed appreciation for U.S. support for a proposed new 
Executive Order to mandate such cooperation, which remains at 
Malacanang for signature); 
--  more robust funding for a Witness Protection program; 
--  creation of a National Warrant of Arrest registry 
accessible to all police units nationwide; 
--  establishment of a National Automated Ballistic 
Information database to cross-check crimes; and, 
--  a strengthened rewards system. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  General Razon admitted that he had not yet seen 
the Melo Commission report to the President, but claimed that 
he remained in "constant coordination" with Justice Melo, who 
will continue to offer advice to the President.  (Pol/C has 
an appointment to meet with Justice Melo on February 9.) 
 
New military component 
---------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U)  Beginning in January 2007, a senior representative 
of the Armed Forces of the Philippines -- its head of the 
Civilian Relations Service -- became a part of Task Force 
Usig.  The new member (a Rear Admiral) has shared the AFP's 
documentation of additional killings allegedly perpetrated by 
the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army, 
which do not fall under the purview of Task Force Usig. 
According to AFP statistics, since 2000 there have been 1,227 
such killings, including: 
--  384 AFP and PNP personnel; 
--   75 former AFP and PNP personnel; 
--  101 government officials; 
--   67 rebel returnees and former CPP members; and, 
--  599 other civilians. 
 
¶9.  (U)  Few of these cases have been solved or their 
perpetrators brought to justice, according to the AFP. 
General Razon clarified that the PNP's Inter-Agency Illegal 
Action Group worked with AFP to investigate these cases, but 
reluctance of witnesses to testify remained a significant 
impediment to bringing culprits to justice. 
 
Next steps 
---------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  In 2007, Task Force Usig will concentrate on 
filing charges in at least 50 pct of all confirmed cases 
involving leftists (the ratio now is 43 pct), as well as 
additional cases involving journalists (where 81 pct of cases 
already have charges filed), according to General Razon.  He 
continues to push for a required re-registration of all 
firearms, which would provide not only updated data on who 
has which guns but also additional revenues that would fund 
the Task Force's activities.  He said that he continued to 
work with the Department of Interior and Local Government to 
ensure issuance of the proposed Executive Order on 
police/prosecutor cooperation, but in the meantime has 
strengthened informal police links with the Department of 
Justice to ensure preparation of stronger legal cases with 
adequate evidence.  He noted that the PNP had succeeded in 
obtaining a commitment from the National Sweepstakes 
Organization to provide about 20 million pesos (about 
USD400,000) in annual funding for the PNP's Criminal 
Investigation and Detection Group, which General Razon said 
should help the PNP move many more cases from the 
investigation stage to actual filing of legal charges against 
suspects. 
 
¶11.  (U)  General Razon admitted concerns that political 
violence related to the May 14 national, provincial, and 
local elections were high, which the PNP hopes to mitigate by 
strict enforcement of a special gun ban from the Commission 
on Elections during the campaign cycle, as well as by tougher 
checkpoints in violence-prone areas.   He also expressed 
concern about a possible surge in violence from the CPP/NPA 
as it engages in its "usual" extortion from political 
candidates desiring to campaign in CPP-NPA areas.  He said 
 
MANILA 00000458  003 OF 003 
 
 
that Task Force Usig members had been buoyed when President 
Arroyo noted their accomplishments during her January 31 
speech on the occasion of the PNP's 16th anniversary.  The 
President underscored that "the Filipino people are counting 
on you once again to safeguard the ballot and clamp down on 
guns and violence in the run up to the elections" and urged 
that "we must do everything in our power to crack down on 
political violence." 
 
¶12.  (U)  General Razon reiterated that the Philippine 
government has a "firm policy of protecting democratic space 
and fundamental liberties," and would not tolerate "the 
persecution or elimination of radicals, journalists or 
opponents." 
 
Visit Embassy Manila's Classified website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm 
 
 
KENNEY