By Malu C. Manar
Lawyer Alexander Padilla, chair of the government panel talking peace with the communist guerillas, has decried the indemnification of the rebel group to victims of the recent grenade blast in Paquibato district, Davao City.
In a statement issued to media, Padilla said the payments of P5, 000 to each victim of the Paquibato circus blast was just a ‘stopgap’ and ‘diversionary.’
He stressed that the indemnification has also clouded the issue of violation of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and existing Philippine laws.
Padilla’s statement came after a group of alleged victims of NPA atrocities in Mindanao gathered on Thursday in front of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) church in Davao City to protest what they called was a ‘measly’ payment to each blast victim.
The Exodus for Justice and Peace (EJP) led by Bishop Modesto Villasanta of the UCCP is acting as broker in the settlement, according to reports from Col. Lyndon Paniza of the 10th Infantry Division.
On Wednesday, at least 50 victims of the Paquibato blast received an “initial indemnification†from the NDF, through help from religious institutions, lawyers, and journalists acting as third-party facilitators.
Aside from payments, the victims received counseling and medical assistance from a team of volunteers, reports said.
In a statement issued to media on September 12, the regional council of the NDF-Southern Mindanao through its spokesperson Rubi Del Mundo said the indemnification is a unilateral exercise of “revolutionary political authority†by a “government of the working class and peasantry†that has its own legal and judicial system and rules in accordance with its political principles and circumstances.
Del Mundo also stated that the indemnification is in accordance with the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).
The rebel spokesperson said the CARHRIHL, signed by the GPH and the NDF on March 16, 1998 in The Hague, Netherlands, provides for the indemnification and compensation to parties affected in the armed conflict.
But Arthur Tariman, lead organizer of the group that held protest rally last Thursday said they want more than the payment.
Tariman said they demand that the NPA turns over to authorities those responsible for the blast.
Padilla, for his part, said the continued refusal of the rebel group to allow the perpetrators to be subjected to due process “adds insult to injuryâ€.
Padilla has even derided the earlier statement of NPA spokesperson Rigoberto Sanchez that those responsible for the Paquibato attack would be dealt with based on the CPP-NPA’s ‘revolutionary justice.’
This ‘revolutionary justice’, however, according to Padilla, has already been exposed as a “sham†by many because of its alleged disregard to the rule of law, including basic rights.
The GPH panel chair said that there have been countless civilians who became victims of the ‘collateral damage’ in over four decades of the communist insurgency, yet, the indemnification issue has been raised only now.
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