Home | To bottom

No to clemency for killer of Cordillera HR worker — Batan kin

BAGUIO CITY (Feb. 12) —The family of a human rights worker, killed by a member of the Civilian Auxiliary Force and Geographical Unit (CAFGU) in 1993, urged Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo not to grant executive clemency to the convicted CAFGU killer.

Cirilo Batan, brother of slain human rights worker Christopher, wrote Pres. Arroyo on Nov. 2004 to reiterate the family’s request not to grant executive clemency to CAFGU member Agustin Agpawan, who was convicted by the Regional Trial Court on June 29, 1995 in Baguio City for the murder of Christopher. The conviction was “murder attended by the aggravating circumstances of treachery and sentenced to suffer reclusion perpetua, which mandates imprisonment of 20 years and one day to 40 years.” Agpawan did not appeal the court decision and served his sentence at the Penal Colony in Palawan.

The Batan family opposed the executive clemency on the basis that: the killing was attended by conspiracy with several others to ensure the killing of Christopher Batan; 11 years is too short for Agpawan to remorse for the killing; Agpawan failed to indemnify the Batan family with P 50, 000 as ordered by the RTC Baguio in its decision; and that Agpawan victimized fellow members of the various Mt. Province tribes “upon flimsy excuse of a wrong belief and a wrong attitude towards a person who was just doing his job in order to live.”

Based on the documents obtained by NORDIS, the move for executive clemency is traced to an endorsement by the provincial government of Mt. Province. The latest was Gov. Maximo Dalog’s endorsement of the executive clemency for Agpawan on September 29, 2004.

Politics behind the executive clemency

The documents showed that the clemency dated back to August 16, 2003 when Brgy. Anabel, a neighboring village of Betwagan, passed a barangay resolution requesting the Mt. Province Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) to endorse the executive clemency to Pres. Arroyo. Agpawan is from Betwagan.

The SP passed Resolution 542 supporting the executive clemency but was not acted upon by the president.

The Anabel Barangay Council passed on July 30, 2004, the same resolution for executive clemency. The SP passed Resolution 61 on August 16 that same year endorsing the executive clemency contained under the Anabel resolution.

Allegedly, many of Agpawan’s relatives are from Anabel.

Genesis of the Batan killing

Christopher Batan, staff of the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), went to Betwagan on February 23, 1993 with Fr. Eduardo Solang and TFDP staff Mila Fanaang to document cases of human rights violations during the Marcos administration. The documentation was part of a class suit filed by human rights victims during the said period.

After crossing the Chico River and walking towards Betwagan, a group of CAFGU fired at the three human rights workers, killing Batan instantly.

A case was filed at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Bontoc but was later transferred to Baguio City upon request of the private prosecutors for the safety of the witnesses and when the bodong (peacepact) between the Betwagan and Lias tribes broke down due to the killing. The Batans are members of the Lias tribe in Barlig of the same province.

Agpawan, arrested almost a year after the killing, was convicted of murder by the RTC of Baguio on June 29, 1995.

Another perpetrator of the murder of Batan, Bonifacio Chumacog, also a CAFGU member and a member of the Betwagan tribe, was arrested in 2004. He identified his companions in the killing in a sworn affidavit on July 15, 2004.

Other perpetrators still at large

Chumacog identified the other perpetrators of the murder as Mateo Fanao, Kengeb Fayno and Panyong Rongan, all members of the Betwagan tribe.

The human rights desk of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance of Mt. Province relayed that the three are still active CAFGU members in that area.

“In fact, one of them has been elected as Betwagan barangay captain in the past,” CPA said.

The government however, has not acted despite the identification made by Chumacog. According to court records, Chumacog pleaded guilty and was imposed the penalty of reclusion perpetua on June 29, 2004. The conviction was made 11 years after the murder.

NBP denied clemency

NORDIS called the record office of the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) to confirm the rumor that Agpawan has already been granted executive clemency by Pres. Arroyo. Jenny Monge of NBP claimed that they are not aware of the move as they do not have any document for Agpawan’s release.

Pres. Arroyo was criticized in the past for being too lax on human rights violations committed by the CAFGU and para-military groups, including the integration of the Cordillera Peoples’ Liberation Army (CPLA) into the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). The CPLA is responsible for numerous human rights violations in the region. # Arthur L. Allad-iw for NORDIS

Home | Back to top