Urgent Action Alerts

(Initial Data. Sent by KASAMA-TK)

Two weeks before the elections, Jose Reynaldo “Jory” Porquia who is running for a seat in the city council of Iloilo City received two poison-pen letters signed by a certain  Ramon Socrates Ledesma of  Western Visayas Advocates for Peace.  One of the letters dated April 26, 2010 contains the following message:  “It seems that you are not truthful and serious in serving the public.  We found out that you continue your alliance with the enemies of democracy, progress and peace-the CPP-NPA-NDF and its Partylists.  Your alliance with them is an admission that you are one of them who adheres to the non sense of communism.  WITH THIS LETTER IS A BLACK RIBBON THAT WILL REMIND YOU THAT YOUR LIFE, AS WELL AS YOUR FAMILY, IS ONLY A PRIVILEGE.  IF DEATH BECOMES YOU, MAY YOU REST IN PEACE.”  It can be recalled that this is exactly the content of the letter received by KABATAAN Partylist 3rd nominee Atty. Katrina Castillo and the subject of UA No: 2010-04-03.

On April 16, 2010, Atty. Katrina Castillo’s mother received an envelope addressed to her daughter with a note that says, “To:  Atty. Katrina “Kat-kat” Castillo, second nominee (sic) Kabataan Partylist” from a certain Ronaldo I. Picardal of  Brgy. Tizon, Tarangnan, Samar.  

The envelope contained a black ribbon and a printed note that says:

“It seems that you are not truthful and serious in serving the public. We found out that you continue your alliance with the enemies of democracy, progress and peace - the CPP-NPA-NDF and its partylists.  Your alliance with them is an admission that you are one of them who adhere to the nonsense communism. WITH THIS LETTER IS A BLACK RIBBON THAT WILL REMIND YOU THAT YOUR LIFE, AS WELL AS YOUR FAMILY, IS ONLY A PRIVILEGE. IF DEATH BECOMES YOU, MAY YOU REST IN PEACE.  For the Filipino people, country, and democracy.”

On March 18, 2010, Ronelo Perez visited his farm in the nearby Sitio Marandan which is located in the tri-boundary of the towns of Jamindan and Tapaz, Capiz and Libacao, Aklan.  He was inside his hut when soldiers fired at it.  After the initial volley of gunfire, Ronelo, thigh shattered by the gunshot, went out of the hut to seek help.  But instead of giving him assistance, a soldier came towards him and shot him in the head killing him instantly.

The Philippine Army through the 3rd ID public information officer 1Lt. Mark Andrew Posadas maliciously accused Ronelo to be a member of a group of illegal loggers supported by the armed rebel New People's Army.  He was allegedly killed during the military operation to recover illegally cut lumber in Sitio Marandan.  This was disputed by the barangay (village) chairman who attests that Ronelo was a bona fide farmer in the village and was not a part of any illegal group.

On March 22, 2010, Myrna Abraham was on her way to Sanchez-Mira and was supposed to get off in Claveria but she slept in the bus that she missed her bus stop. When she woke up, it was already 6:30 PM and she was already in Cauginganan, Pamplona. She immediately got off the bus. As she alighted from bus, four men wearing white shirts with the word police grabbed her. They also shouted that they were the police to stop bystanders from helping Myrna. They then threw her into a white van. Two more men were waiting inside the van sitting in front. Then the van sped off towards the direction of Abulog.

Inside the van, Myrna struggled but was easily overpowered by her abductors. She was blindfolded and handcuffed. They travelled for about two hours. She was brought to an unknown place where she heard sounds of pigs and of airplanes taking off or flying. There her captors started interrogating her. Her main interrogator introduced himself as Raymond Wong who claimed to “belong to the Philippine Government”. Myrna replied that they have something in common since she is also from the government. She asked them what had she done. They told her she did something against the government. They were forcing her to tell her real name. They did not believe her when she told them that Myrna Cruz- Abraham is her real name and she's from Pasig City. They insisted that she is Nel Villanueva. They would allegedly bring her home if she admitted that she is Nel Villanueva and tell them her address.

The public information officer of CASFA and CHW, Ronaldo Capitanea, who drives a passenger motorcycle for a living, was shot on 23 February at around 6:25 AM, while on his way to pick up a regular passenger. When he was driving along the road in Hacienda Mabuhay in Brgy. Gil Montilla, Sipalay City, two men on board a black DT motorcycle shot him at close range. He was hit on the upper right side of his back and the bullet exited on the upper right chest. However, he mustered his strength, drove his motorcycle fast and tried to look back to see his assailants. He saw that they were chasing and shooting at him again. By sheer willpower, he drove his motorcycle all the way to his passenger’s house in Brgy. Canturay, which is a kilometer away from the place of incident. Upon reaching the place, he fell to the ground. His passenger immediately brought him to a nearby clinic but due to his critical condition, he was later transferred to the regional hospital.

On February 1, around 40 medical practitioners and health workers participated in a one week First Responders Training, sponsored by the Community Medicine Foundation, Inc. (COMMED) and Council for Health and Development (CHD) at Dr. Melecia Velmonte’s Farm, a conference and training facility in Morong, Rizal.

Initial reports revealed that at around 6:00 am of September 17, 2006, three men were seen taking photos of the home of National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera in Mapayapa Village, Quezon City. The Lumberas’ house helpers noticed the men taking photos of the house at all angles.

Alarmed, the Lumberas immediately called the Village security personnel who quickly responded to the residence. The security was only able to apprehend one of the men, identified by his Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ID as Corporal Hannival Mondido Guerrero. Guerrero’s companions quickly escaped when the village security arrived. 

Guerrero’ was questioned by village security why he was casing the Lumbera home. Guerrero insisted that he was only interested in the vacant lot beside the Lumbera home.