VZCZCXRO3980
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #1759/01 2050856
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 230856Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1382
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0274
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 001759 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL ELAB RP
SUBJECT: COURT CONVICTS SOLDIER FOR DISAPPEARANCES 
 
REF: MANILA 1706 (RAMPING UP INVESTIGATION AND 
     PROSECUTION OF LABOR AND OTHER 
     EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS) 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: A regional trial court July 18 convicted an 
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) corporal for abduction 
and illegal detention of six civilians who disappeared in 
October 2000, sentencing the defendant to a minimum of 54 
years in prison.  In the absence of physical evidence, 
including the victims' bodies, the new testimony of an army 
sergeant was pivotal in securing the guilty verdict.  This 
case is remarkable because convictions in disappearance cases 
are rare.  Prosecutors in these cases face a requirement to 
have evidence of kidnapping or killing, while witnesses may 
be unwilling to testify and administrative delays obstruct a 
trial's progress.  This most recent conviction shows how 
perseverance of the victims' families and testimony from a 
key witness, even several years after a trial has begun, can 
still contribute to a successful prosecution.  This is the 
first-ever court victory for the NGO involved in the case, 
which is working on 15 other unresolved disappearance cases. 
While the case exemplifies the shortcomings of the justice 
system, it also shows that the system can deliver convictions 
in some of the most difficult cases.  END SUMMARY. 
 
PROMPT ACTION BY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The case stems from the October 2000 disappearance of 
six civilians in Agusan del Sur, Mindanao, following threats 
made by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Corporal 
Rodrigo Billones of the 62nd Infantry Battalion.  Less than 
two weeks after the disappearances, the Commission on Human 
Rights (CHR) assisted the victims' families by issuing 
subpoenas for Billones.  When he failed to appear, CHR issued 
an additional subpoena to the commanding officer and sent 
copies of the complaint to the AFP Chief of Staff for 
administrative sanctioning.  Victims' families then filed 
separate complaints and, after a preliminary investigation in 
December, 2000, the case prosecutor filed charges of 
abduction and serious illegal detention with the court in 
Agusan del Sur.  In January 2001, the court issued an arrest 
warrant for Billones, who finally appeared in court in June 
that year and was held in detention from then on. 
 
STILL A LENGTHY TRIAL 
--------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) The trial of Billones took just under eight years to 
conclude because of the difficulty of obtaining witness 
testimony and because of pervasive inefficiencies in the 
Philippine judicial system, which allows for discontinuous 
trials.  Administrative obstacles in this case included 39 
hearing postponements, various defense tactics such as the 
filing of motions, and the periodic assignment of new judges 
to the court.  However, in a clear break for the case, a 
former AFP sergeant submitted an affidavit to the CHR that he 
saw the six victims in an army camp and that they were 
tortured and killed by AFP members, including a colonel and a 
lieutenant who had both served in the 62nd Infantry Battalion 
with Billones.  The former sergeant finally testified against 
Billones in November 2007 paving the way for last week's 
guilty verdict.  The accused was convicted and fined damages 
for being an accomplice to the disappearances, and was 
sentenced to 9 to 15 years in prison for each of the six 
complaints -- a minimum of 54 years, tantamount to a life 
sentence.  In the decision, the regional trial court judge 
also instructed the Department of Justice to conduct a 
separate inquiry on the criminal liability of the two other 
AFP officials allegedly involved in the disappearances. 
 
NGO FOR THE DISAPPEARED HAS RARE VICTORY 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) In this case, the attorney hired by the victims' 
families was a member of the NGO Families of Victims of 
Involuntary Disappearances (FIND).  He served as both legal 
counsel for the families and as a "private prosecutor," 
deputized by the public prosecutor to move the case through 
the judicial process, a format common in other kinds of 
criminal cases, such as trafficking.  Of the 16 disappearance 
cases on which FIND is working, this is the first and only 
case that the NGO has seen resolved, and without the 
testimony of the former army sergeant the case might have 
been dismissed.  Many of FIND's cases on disappearances from 
the 1990s are still in court, although the NGO told Post they 
 
MANILA 00001759  002 OF 002 
 
 
thought this case was resolved relatively quickly.  Since 
convictions in disappearance trials are rare, FIND calls this 
a "breakthrough" victory that gives them hope for other 
disappearance cases. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) This case is significant because it shows that the 
Philippine government, when faced with new information, is 
willing to convict army officials in disappearance cases 
whose trails ran cold long ago.  Even more importantly, this 
case succeeded despite the odds.  It sat for six years with 
no new leads and, as a disappearance case, did not benefit 
from the involvement of the Philippine National Police's Task 
Force USIG, which investigates extrajudicial killings.  USIG 
does not investigate disappearance cases and in addition only 
investigates cases filed since the beginning of President 
Arroyo's administration in 2001.  While the end result 
illustrates that the government is serious about solving 
disappearances, some persistent obstacles in the justice 
system remain, including administrative delays, overburdened 
prosecutors, and witness reticence.  Still, the verdict in 
such a difficult and lengthy case as this shows that the 
Philippines justice system is ultimately capable of 
delivering convictions. 
 
KENNEY