| Home Kapatiran
Links
Contact Us
Archive
Issue Number 32, October 2009
|
Kapatiran Issue
No. 32, October 2009
THE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MISSION TO SURFACE
JAMES BALAO
- Joe Hendren
A middle aged man stands across the street from a school
in Lower Tomay, Benguet. Two men on motorcycles pass back
and forth along the road in front of the school. Later, a
white Mitsubishi Adventurer pulls up in front the middle
aged man. Five armed men, in civilian clothes and
military style haircuts get out of the car and surround
him. As he is wrestled and handcuffed he shouts “ask
them why they are taking me?” The man is then put in
a headlock and is unable to speak. That is the last
anyone has seen James Balao for a year. On September 17,
2008 James became the latest victim of an “enforced
disappearance” in the Philippines. He has been
missing ever since, and the State security forces of the
Philippines are widely believed to be responsible for his
abduction. He is at risk of torture or other
ill-treatment.
On October 22 and 23, 2008 I was honoured to be part of
an International Solidarity Mission (ISM) to Surface
James Balao, sponsored by the Indigenous Peoples’
Rights Monitor, a national network of indigenous
peoples’ advocate organisations in the Philippines.
The delegation included 23 representatives from a wide
range of human rights, indigenous rights and church
groups; from a wide range of countries, including
Australia, Canada, United States, India, Thailand as well
as local activists from the Philippines. I was the sole
New Zealander and trade unionist to take part. The
Mission aimed to investigate what Philippine government
institutions and concerned people's organisations are
doing to find James Balao and to produce an independent
assessment of these actions. As a leading researcher and
educator, James Balao has been a key member of the
Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) from its foundation in
1984. The CPA has been very active on campaigns opposing
Government policies, particularly around mining and
logging, opposing militarisation and organising community
protests.
Indigenous Researcher & Activist
The CPA believes Balao was seen as a threat in some
quarters because of the way his research has been central
in CPA campaigns to expose injustices inflicted by the
Government and to assert the rights of indigenous peoples
to land and resources. James Balao loved working for his
people and devoted all this time to the cause. The oldest
of four brothers and sisters, he never married –
some have fondly suggested he married the CPA instead. A
few months before his disappearance James wrote an email
to his family warning them he believed he was under
surveillance and to be careful. He believed he was being
followed by a blue and white van wherever he went.
The ISM began in the Balao family's Cranberry Bakeshop in
La Trinidad, Benguet. James' three siblings, along with
their father Arthur Balao, briefed the delegates on their
efforts to find James, along with the two people's
organisations leading the Surface James Balao campaign
– the CPA and the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance
(CHRA). Arthur Balao said the family had not had a normal
life since the abduction, with the entire family having a
hard time in their efforts to locate James. He also
expressed his concern for others who had been abducted.
“I hope you can do something to help our country and
stop these abductions and killings”.
The ISM then visited the street where Balao was abducted
and met at the school across the road to hear from
witnesses and to find out the impact of the abduction on
the local community. Some witnesses and community members
are concerned the State security forces will retaliate
against them for helping the family and CPA. As James was
being forced into the white Mitsubishi one of the
abductors yelled to witnesses: “Don't worry, we are
the Police and he is a drug pusher. Don't
interfere”. A witness overheard one of the abductors
say they were going to proceed straight to Camp Dangwa,
the regional Philippine National Police (PNP) Command.
While some in the community were initially happy the
Police had arrested a drug pusher, when they later became
aware as to whom Balao was, they became concerned for
their own safety. Suspicion of the PNP was heightened
when officers encouraged witnesses to sign statements
that were not accurate. A member of the ISM asked a
simple question of one of the witnesses that made it
clear beyond a doubt that not even the abductors thought
James was a drug pusher. “Was there a body search
carried out at the time of James' arrest?” Answer:
“No”.
Cops Won’t Investigate Military
The International Solidarity Mission then travelled a
short distance down the road to visit Camp Dangwa in
attempt to seek answers from officials in the PNP
regional command. The officers gave a briefing outlining
the actions taken by the PNP's Task Force Balao, there
was a question as to how much independent investigation
work had been carried out by the PNP, when much of the
information did not seem to go much further than
background and profile material earlier distributed to
all PNP units by the CPA. The Commanding Officer of the
PNP Regional Command took questions from members of the
ISM. Questions were raised about the fear the ISM had
witnessed in the community.
“General Martin admitted that the population of
Lower Tomay had experienced harassment 'in some quarters'
since Balao abduction, but would not define what he meant
by 'certain quarters', saying only that the Task Force
had been investigating this harassment. Not addressing
the group's assertion that much of the community's fear
is directed towards the State security forces, the
General told the participants that he had ordered an
increased police presence in Lower Tomay in order to calm
community fears. Despite this claim the delegation had
seen no officers or patrol cars in Lower Tomay during
their ocular inspection” - Report of ISM to Surface
James Balao.1
Martin reported the Task Force Balao is looking into four
possible groups of suspects - the PNP themselves, the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), personal enemies
of Balao and the CPA. Some participants were surprised by
the suggestion the PNP and the AFP would be natural
suspects and felt this vindicated the CPA's claim the
State security forces are involved in the rising number
of enforced disappearances in the Philippines. Martin
became aggressive and defensive when asked whether the
slow pace of the investigation hindered their ability to
eliminate themselves as suspects. He also gave a strange
response when he was asked about the ability of the Task
Force to investigate the AFP, claiming he had open
channels of communication with the AFP, but he needed
names of potential suspects within the military in order
to begin investigating, and claimed he could not
investigate the entire institution. The report of the ISM
summarised our visit to the cop shop as follows:
“The delegation came away from the dialogue with a
sense both that the Police force was not making a real
effort to investigate the abduction of James Balao, and
that they were trying to cover up their own unwillingness
and/or inability to investigate the AFP”.
After Camp Dangwa the ISM split into three groups. Due to
unforeseen circumstances one group were not able to meet
with Mayor Galwan or the La Trinidad Municipal
Councillors. Another group met with Benguet Governor
Nestor Fongwan, and came away questioning the Governor's
sincerity in his commitment of support to the Surface
James Balao campaign, particularly when he contradicted
things that the group had heard earlier from Martin,
despite Fongwan claiming Martin as his source. He also
suggested robbery as another potential explanation for
the disappearance, despite this not being mentioned in
any previous briefings. My group met with members of the
Baguio City Council over lunch, who gave us the most
positive and sympathetic hearing of the day. A number of
ideas were discussed including the possibility of a
community forum on peace and justice, and declaring
Baguio a “Human Rights Violation Free Zone”. In
response to the later suggestion I gave the example of
how New Zealand had declared itself to be nuclear free in
the 1980s, at first town by town, and how this campaign
had successfully raised public awareness of the issues.
Both major parties in New Zealand now support the nuclear
free stance, and it is regarded by most Kiwis as one of
our fundamental values. So even if a “Human Rights
Violation Free Zone” was largely symbolic at first,
it could have practical impact over the longer term.
Military Intelligence Refuses To Meet ISM
Participants of the International Solidarity Mission then
regrouped to pay a visit to Camp Allen, the regional base
of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The camp houses
the offices of the Military Intelligence Group (MIG) for
the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). The CPA and
CHRA strongly suspect this unit is responsible for the
abduction of James. Despite being sent a letter by
Attorney Banyang on behalf of the ISM seeking a dialogue
at the same time as that sent to Camp Dangwa, there had
been no response from the MIG.
Arriving at the gates the ISM was told no unauthorised
persons would be admitted to the camp. A Lieutenant
Castro told Attorney Bayang the Philippine Military
Academy in Baguio had declared all regional camps to be
on red alert due to “National Defence Week”.
Attorney Bayang again requested the Commanding Officer
hold a dialogue with the International Solidarity
Mission, but was instead taken to speak to the
Administrator of Camp Allen, the head of the 11th
Community Relations Unit of the AFP, Lieutenant Junior
Grade Thomas Yu-ing, He claimed the AFP had never
received our letter, and denied even knowing where the
MIG had their offices inside Camp Allen. Attorney Bayang
rejoined the rest of the ISM gathered outside the gate
and reported on her meeting with the Administrator. It
was clear to all this was nothing but stall and avoidance
tactics from the AFP, who had also refused entry to
Government officials earlier that month. On October 6 a
team from the Philippine Commission on Human Rights
(CHR), along with the Balao family and representatives of
the CPA, was also denied entry to the camp.
“The unwillingness of the MIG to meet with members
of the family or even the State's own Commission on Human
Rights makes it seem as if the unit is hiding something.
The participants also believe the refusal of the MIG to
meet with anyone relating to the James Balao case
suggests an attitude of arrogance and a feeling of
impunity which is unhealthy within the State security
forces of a democratic country” - Report of the ISM.
On October 6, 2008 the national office of the CHR passed
a resolution strongly condemning the enforced
disappearance of James Balao and requested the assistance
of the AFP and the PNP in the investigation.
Commission On Human Rights No Use
The ISM met with the regional Commissioner Russell Ma-ao
of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR-CAR) at its
office. While Ma-ao has attended activities of the
Surface James Balao campaign and staff of the CHR-CAR had
begun searching AFP camps for Balao, she was unwilling to
make an independent statement implicating the military in
James’ enforced disappearance and suggested that any
such statements would be made by the National Office of
the CHR. Ma-ao was also reluctant to link the Balao case
with previous extrajudicial killings of other indigenous
rights activists in the Cordillera. While the PNP and the
AFP were suspects the CHR were not going to draw
conclusions until the investigation was finished, with
Ma-ao playing the game now familiar to ISM members where
unlikely “other suspects” like “Balao's
clan members” were trotted out.
Commissioner Ma-ao said the Commission, as an institution
of the Government, could not make a statement against the
Government until it was absolutely certain that State
security forces had been involved in the case. Members of
the ISM questioned how the CHR-CAR could effectively
function unless it was independent of the Government and
prepared to speak out to defend human rights. In
contrast, the National Office of the CHR had been active
up to that point on the Balao case, and has continued to
speak out.
I took the opportunity to ask Ma-ao about the joint
project being undertaken between the New Zealand Human
Rights Commission and the Philippine CHR. She confirmed
that the focus of this project is on community
development rather than civil and political rights. I
reminded her how the project had come about – as a
response to the concerns of New Zealanders about
political repression and enforced disappearances that
were raised during the visit of Philippine President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to New Zealand in May 2007. See
elsewhere in this issue for the Position Statement from
several organisations (including PSNA) to the New Zealand
Human Rights Commission, expressing concerns about this
joint project. Ed.
At the conclusion of the ISM I was told I would sit on a
panel at a press conference where the conclusions of the
mission would be announced. We concluded that James was a
victim of an enforced disappearance carried out by the
State security forces. The ISM called on the Philippine
government to abandon Oplan Bantay Laya, the
“counter-insurgency policy” which has been
linked to enforced disappearances throughout the country.
Thankfully others did most of the talking at the press
conference. A leading member of the ISM, Nicole Smith
from the United Church of Canada, said: "It is
(disappointing) Government seems not to be taking the
case seriously. From what we have observed, there is an
intention (by the State) to ignore the case," The
Baguio Sun-Star and other newspapers also included a
quote from me expressing concern that what happened to
James could happen to any Filipino citizen given the
history of enforced disappearances in the country.2
As I reflected on the day I felt this was a key message
given the completely arbitrary nature of James'
abduction.
Still Missing
Given the focus on James Balao as an indigenous rights
activist I thought it was only fitting to invite New
Zealand's own indigenous people to play a part. I sent
off a quick email to my comrade Syd Keepa, the Convenor
of Te Runanga o Nga Kaimahi, the representative body of
Maori workers within the NZ Council of Trade Unions. I
was impressed that Syd managed to contact me on my
Philippine cellphone, and we worked on some words over
the phone. The Runanga would like to send their aroha,
their love, to the family of James. They would also like
to express their solidarity with the campaign to surface
James, the campaign for indigenous rights and all efforts
to locate James. The message from New Zealand was
appreciated by many of the other participants in the
International Solidarity Mission, many of whom were
indigenous to their own lands.
As the members of the ISM discussed their experiences
over the two days, one of the most powerful contributions
came from a small elderly Filipino nun dressed in a
traditional habit. In a compelling voice that made the
whole room want to listen. She found that the Mission had
left her with mixed emotions. These ranged from sadness
to anger, from helplessness to hope. The use of military
force to silence the people showed that nobody in the
Philippines was safe. Despite this, she concluded:
“Our destiny is in our hands”. Well, Sister, if
the hands join together, both in the Philippines and
internationally, we can hope people power will give the
Philippines back to its people. We can hope the enforced
disappearances and extrajudicial killings will be brought
to an end, and those responsible will be brought to
justice.
On the same day as the press conference the CPA heard
through a source that James was alive and was being held
in a military camp.3 Yet there has been
little word since, and a family have not seen their son
and brother for a year. Aroha to James, we are still
thinking of you and hope for your safe return to your
community.
A key source in writing this article was the Report of
the International Solidarity Mission to Surface James
Balao. This was distributed to media and can be read
online here http://www.cpaphils.org/campaigns/ISM%20SJB%20%20final%20report.pdf
For an update on the Surface James Balao Campaign visit
the Cordillera Peoples Alliance Website http://www.cpaphils.org. There have been
a number of developments in the case since the
International Solidarity Mission, along with other
actions and expressions of support for the campaign both
within the Philippines and internationally.
————————————————
1 http://www.cpaphils.org/campaigns/ISM%20SJB%20%20final%20report.pdf
2 Baguio Sun-Star (25/10/08,
“Luke-warm action on Balao case hit”).
3 Inquirer.Net (24/10/08,
“Balao still alive, activists say”).#
Go to top
|
