.
UA Date: 19 January 2008
UA
Title: Ex-political detainee gun
downed on his birthday in Tagbilaran City, Bohol Province, Philippines
UA
Case: Assassination
Victim/s: Ronald Cempron Sendrijas
·
35 years old, single
·
Member, Samahan ng mga Ex-detainees
Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (SELDA) “Society of Ex-Detainees for
Liberation, against Detention and for Amnesty”
·
Spokesperson, Association of Concerned
Inabangnons (ACIN)
Place of Incident: along Gallares St, in front
of Paz Pharmacy across Ramiro Hospital
in Tagbilaran City
Date of Incident: 17 January 2008, around
9:20 P.M.
Alleged Perpetrators: two
armed men on board a motorcycle believed to be military elements
Account
of Incident –
On 17 January 2008, Ronald C.
Sendrijas visited his sister who just gave birth at the Ramiro Hospital in
Tagbilaran City. At around 9:00 in the evening, he went out to buy medicine for
his headache at Paz Pharmacy just across the hospital. At around 9:20 PM, as he
approached the pharmacy counter, two men on board a motorcycle stopped in front
of the pharmacy. The man riding on the rear of the motorcycle alighted and
approached him from behind, put his arm around the victim’s neck and said,
“Ronald”, as if to confirm his identity, then shot him twice at the back of his
head with a 9-millimeter pistol instantly killing the victim. The perpetrators
sped off to an unknown direction after the shooting. Ronald celebrated his 35th
birthday on the day he died.
In 2004, Ronald was arrested in the
town of Argao, Cebu and was charged with robbery in band with serious physical
injuries in Danao City, Cebu. On that same year, he was also charged with
rebellion in the town of Talibon, Bohol. He was released on bail on both
charges. After his release, he went to back to Bohol and became active with
SELDA.
SELDA is a member organization of
KARAPATAN that is at the forefront of the struggle for justice for the victims
of human rights abuses during martial law; it spearheaded the filing of a class
suit of the 9,539 victims against the heirs of the late Pres. Ferdinand E.
Marcos in the United States for justice and indemnification; and continues to
lobby for the passage of the Human Rights Compensation Bill in both Houses of Congress.
It likewise promotes the rights and welfare of political prisoners, demand for
regular review of their cases, and eventually to free all political
prisoners. It also campaigns against the
use of torture as a form of interrogation of political detainees and
criminalization of political offenses.
Ronald also became active again on
environmental issues in his hometown, Inabangga. Before his arrest, he was the
spokesperson of ACIN, an alliance that strongly opposes the anti-people
Cebu-Bohol Water project.
Prior to his death, he became a
target of the police and military’s vilification campaign. He was implicated by
no less than the former Police Superintendent of Bohol, Arturo Evangelista in
the assassination of Victor Olayvar on 17 September 2006. Victor Olayvar was
the chairperson of BAYAN or the New Patriotic Alliance in Bohol. Recently, he
was again maliciously implicated in a murder case in the town of Bilar, Bohol.
He told his colleagues that he was offered with positions within the government
in exchange for his surrender and cooperation with the 302nd
Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army.
Ronald’s sister related that his
brother told her that he was under surveillance and had been receiving death
threats through his mobile phone. He even showed her one of the messages
stating he would be killed on his birthday but he did not identify whom it was
from. She added that a few hours before he was shot, Ronald received a call
through his mobile phone from the person/s sending him the death threats.
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 assassination
of Ronald C. Sendrijas.
2.
The
arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the crime/s of assassination.
3.
The immediate
protection and proper indemnification of the victims; and
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 Peace Process
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
Voice:+63 (2) 636 0701 to 066
Mobile:
Fax:+63 (2) 635 9579
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. Purificacion Valera Quisumbing
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City
Philippines
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: drpvq@chr.gov.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
1 Maaralin cor Matatag, Brgy. Central,
Quezon City 1100 PHILIPPINES
Voice/Fax: (+632) 435 4146
Emails: karapatan.pid@gmail.com, docu_krptn@yahoo.com
Website: www.karapatan.org