wfn.org | Filipino military killed innocent people, bishop claims

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Nov. 8, 2001 News media contact: Thomas S. McAnally7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.     10-21-33-71B{522}

NOTE: For further coverage of the United Methodist Council of Bishops'
meeting, see UMNS stories #520, #521, #523 and #524.

LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. (UMNS) - Five fishermen were killed in an encounter in
the Philippines Oct. 8 by military forces that claimed the men were members
of the New People's Army (NPA), a communist rebel group.

But United Methodist Bishop Solito Toquero tells a different story.

Attending the United Methodist Council of Bishops at Lake Junaluska Nov.
5-9, Toquero told United Methodist News Service that three victims were
fishermen who belonged to the church in Conversion, Pantabangan, Nueva
Ecija. He said they were bona fide residents. One was an elected village
official. One was a distant relative of the bishop.

No guns or subversive documents were found on the victims, Toquero noted.
"The victims only had fishing nets and other fishing equipment in their
possession at the time of the brutal death."

The bishop suspects that the action of the soldiers was in retaliation for
an earlier encounter in the region, in which a soldier was killed and four
others injured by the NPA. "Residents were accused of sympathizing with the
rebels, forcing some families to evacuate and move to a safer and less
threatening place," he said. "The fishing nets, one boat and even domestic
animals belonging to the fishermen are missing."

Toquero said his overarching concern is "growing militarism" in the country
where innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire between rebels and
government forces.

Three days after the killings, the bishop accompanied two clergy, some human
rights officials and forensic experts to Conversion where the bodies of the
fishermen were exhumed. The examination indicated the five victims "appeared
to have been massacred," Toquero said.

The post mortem examinations were done by forensic anthropologist Jerome
Bailen of the University of the Philippines and Regalado Aure of the
Commission on Human Rights. Toquero said "unusual wounds" found on the
bodies included cuts on bodies, severed fingers and eyes gouged out. 

After the exhumation and examination, Toquero said he, two other clergy and
people from the village participated in a memorial service and reburial. 

Church and human rights groups in the Philippines blame the 54th Infantry
Battalion of the Philippine Army for the slayings and have called for an
independent investigation of the incident. 

A statement issued to the press, signed by Toquero and five others, said,
"As agents of the state, these soldiers should always bear in mind that it
is their duty to ensure the safety of civilian population and protect the
rights of every individual - civilians or combatants - while implementing
its counter-insurgency program in the countryside."

Toquero became the newest United Methodist bishop when he was elected in
April. The Philippines is one of the fastest-growing areas for the
denomination. Currently, three bishops supervise the work of 19 annual
(regional) conferences in the country, with a total membership of 650,000. 

The United Methodist Church includes 8.4 million members in the United
States and more than 1 million in Africa, Europe and the Philippines. The
Council of bishops includes 50 active bishops from the United States, 17
from other countries, and about 50 retired bishops. Serving a one-year term
as president of the international body is Bishop Elias Galvan of Seattle.  

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United Methodist News Service
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