UA Date:                        18 August 2008 
UA Title:                    Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI or Philippine Independent Church) priest in Bago City, Negros Occidental, Philippines receives Death Threat 

UA Case:                        Threat/Harassment/Intimidation
 
Victim/s:                        Fr. Romeo Tagud

-          Male, 44 years old, married with three (3) children

-          Priest, Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI or Philippine Independent Church)

-          Secretary General, Promotion of Church Peoples' Response (PCPR)-Negros

-          Council Member of Karapatan –Negros

 

Place of Incident:         Pro-Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist, Bago City , Negros Occidental, Philippines

 

Date of Incident:          03 August 2008

 

Alleged Perpetrators:   unidentified persons, believed to be military elements.

 
Account of Incident:
 

On August 3, 2008 at around 6:30 in the morning, Fr. Romeo Tagud was walking towards the church convent after officiating a regular Sunday Mass at the Pro-Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist in Bago City, Negros Occidental when a girl, about 5 or 6 years old, approached the priest and told him that there's an offering for the church. She then gave the priest a white envelope and immediately left.  Fr. Tagud put it inside his pocket and proceeded to the convent. He later noticed that the envelope contained a hard object.  When he opened it, he discovered a bullet which appeared to him as that of an M16 armalite rifle.

 

Prior to the said incident, he was active in the preparation for the 106th Anniversary of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI). He was also among the panelists in the press conference in Bacolod on August 1, 2008, where he presented the official stand of his church on the issues of poverty, corruption, extra judicial killings and other human rights violations, and mining in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental and Hinobaan, Negros Occidental, as well as other pressing issues in the island.

 

Recently, Rev. Fr. Romeo Tagud, a staunch human rights defender, also joined the delegation of Filipino-Americans from the California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, USA who made a pastoral visit last June 30-July 2, 2008 to Barangay Linantuyan, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, exposing human rights abuses of the military in the said barangay

 
It is in this pastoral visit that Fr. Romeo Tagud actively participated to express the church's serious concern on the continuing deterioration in the observance of human rights in Negros, the existence of a pervasive climate of fear among the people in the militarized areas and the lack of care and respect by government and the military towards the Filipino people as they live in extreme poverty.

The church delegation's declaration to help campaign against extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations happening in Negros gained significant projection not only in the said island but in the international community as well.

 

The military in Negros has vilified the church delegation in the local newspapers as one who "violated the rights of the residents of Linantuyan."

 

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

 

Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:

 

1.       The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the threat, harassment and intimidation of Father Romeo Tagud and other churchworkers and human rights defenders in Negros.

2.       The military to stop the labeling of human rights defenders as "members of front organizations of the communists" and "enemies of the state."

3.       The safety of Fr. Romeo Tagud to be ensured.

4.       The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments' provisions.

 

 

You may send your communications to:

 

H.E. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

President of the Republic

Malacanang Palace,

JP Laurel St., San Miguel

Manila Philippines

Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80

Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968

Cell#: (+ 63) 919 898 4622 / (+63) 917 839 8462

E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph

 

Jesus D. Dureza
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
Voice:+63 (2) 636 0701 to 066
Mobile:
Fax:+63 (2) 635 9579

osec@opapp.gov.ph

 

Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr.

Department of National Defense
Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo,
E. de los Santos Avenue
Quezon City
Voice:+63(2) 911-9281 / 911-0488
Fax:+63(2) 911 6213
osnd@philonline.com

 

Hon. Raul M. Gonzalez
Secretary, Department of Justice

Padre Faura St., Manila

Direct Line 521-8344; 5213721
Trunkline  523-84-81 loc.214
Fax: (+632) 521-1614
Email  sad@doj.gov.ph

 

Hon. Leila De Lima

Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights

SAAC Bldg., UP Complex

Commonwealth Avenue

Diliman, Quezon City

Philippines

Fax: (+632) 929 0102

Email: : atty_delima@yahoo.com.ph

 

Please send us a copy of your email/mail/fax to the said government official to our address below.

 

URGENT ACTION Prepared by:

 

KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights)-National Office

2/F Erythrin Bldg., #1 Maaralin cor Matatag Sts., Brgy. Central, Diliman

Quezon City 1100 PHILIPPINES

Voice/Fax: (+632) 435 4146

Emails: <karapatan.pid@gmail.com> / <karapatan.admin@gmail.com>

Website: www.karapatan.org