Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Sunday, April 11, said he may meet with some families of the nine activists who died last March 7 during the joint police and military operations in South Luzon provinces.
(TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
The deaths during the operations are now under investigation by the inter-agency committee on extra-judicial killings (EJKs) headed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The mothers of two activists who died during the operations wrote a letter to Guevarra and sought a dialogue with him in his office.
“Depende sa prevailing community quarantine regime (it will depend on the prevailing community quarantine regime),” Guevarra said.
“We’re happy that the families of the victims have expressed trust in the AO 35 committee,” he said.
“We’ll surely coordinate with them during the investigation,” he assured.
The AO 35 committee is the inter-agency committee created by Administrative Order No. 35 in 2012 to investigate EJKs, enforced disappearances, and other grave violations of the right of life, liberty and security of persons.
Those who sent a letter to Guevarra were Imelda Evangelista and Rosenda Lemita, the mothers of couples Ariel and Anna Mariz, respectively.
“Nais naming ipahayag ang aming pagnanais na makipagdiyalogo at makipagpulong sa inyo hinggil sa imbestigasyon sa nangyari sa aming mga anak noong Marso 7. Kaming mga pamilya ay bukas na makipag-usap sa inyong tanggapan para sa interes ng hustisya sa karumal-dumal na pamamaslang sa aming mga anak (We would like to convey our desire to meet and hold a dialogue with you concerning the investigation on the deaths of our children last March 7. We, the families, are open to hold talks in your office for the interest of justice over their deaths),” they said in their letter.
They lamented that the couple’s 10-year-old son even had to witness the killing of his parents inside their seaside hut in Barangay Calayo in Nasugbu, Batangas.
“Sa lahat ng mga kasong pinaslang ang kanilang target, idinadahilan ng mga pulis na nanlaban ang mga ito. Ngunit pinaninindigan naming hindi sila nanlaban at wala silang kapasidad na magmay-ari ng mga baril, bala, at pampapasabog na sinasabi ng mga pulis na nakita nila sa kanilang bahay (In all cases of killings, police claim that their targets fought back. But we firmly believe that the couple did not do so and they don’t have the capacity to own firearms, ammunition and explosives that police claimed were found inside their home),” the mothers said.
They also said that prior to March 7, the couple had been experiencing harassments due to their membership with the Ugnayan ng Mamamayan Laban sa Pagwawasak ng Kalikasan at Kalupaan, a community organization monitoring the impacts of eco-tourism projects in Batangas.
The expressed concern over their safety. “Para sa aming mga naiwan, hindi nilulubayan ng takot ang aming paghihinagpis. Hanggang sa ngayon, ramdam naming nasa bingit kami ng kapahamakan.(We who have been left behind continue to be afraid in the midst of our mourning. Until now, we still fear that we are at the brink of danger).”