UA Date: 14 March 2007
UA Title: Another Bayan Muna member shot dead in Pigcawayan, Cotabato, Philippines
UA Case: Summary Execution
Victim/s: Carlito Getrosa
· 49 years old, single
· Male
· A resident of Purok Narra, Midpapan 2, Pigcawayan, North Cotabato, Philippines
· Member, Bayan Muna "People First", Pigcawayan, North Cotabato
Place of Incident: near the victim's residence, in Purok Narra, Midpapan 2, Pigcawayan, Philippines
Date of Incident: 11 March 2007, at around 8:30 in the evening
Alleged Perpetrators: a gunman in dark long sleeves shirt wearing a ski mask who fled in a red
XRM motorcycle with undetermined number of accomplices.
Account of Incident –
On March 11, 2007, in the evening Carlito Getrosa was having a usual gathering with his friends and relatives at the back of his house. At about 8:30, when they were about to wrap up, Carlito stood up to take his dinner inside the house, when a man in dark long sleeves shirt and a ski mask suddenly appeared, shot him in the head using a .45 caliber pistol fitted with a silencer. The victim died on the spot.
The assailant hurriedly left on board a red XRM motorcycle speeding towards the direction of the National Highway. He warned the witnesses not to follow him.
At around 7:30 in the evening, witnesses who requested anonymity saw a red XRM motorcycle parked in front of a small market and a man wearing a dark long sleeves shirt and a ski mask sitting in one of the stalls. The said man left on board the motorcycle towards the direction of the house of the victim. The witnesses could not recognize the man because it was dark.
Meanwhile, one of the victim's friends saw two men behind the nearby narra tree. The following day, residents found combat boots marks in the said location.
Prior to the incident, on March 8-10, residents in the area noticed motorcycle-riding suspicious looking men entering the area usually in the afternoon. Their motorcycle did not have any plate numbers.
Carlito was a member of Bayan Muna "People First", a duly accredited political party that promotes the rights and welfare of the marginalized sectors of the country, i.e., workers, peasants, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, urban poor, and other down-trodden by actively pushing urgent people's concerns in the halls of the Philippine Congress.
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 summary execution of Carlito Getroza.
2. The arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the crime/s of abduction and enforced disappearance.
3. The immediate 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:
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
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
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
34 Maamo St. Sikatuna Village, Quezon City 1100 PHILIPPINES
Voice/Fax: (+632) 435 4146
Emails: <karapatan@tri-isys.com > / karapatan@edsamail.com.ph / karapatan.pid@gmail.com
Website: www.karapatan.org