Solon wants slay of rebel leader’s daughter solved

03/16/2009

Calls for the immediate resolution of the Rebelyn Pitao rape-slay case are snowballing in the Senate as one member of the chamber denounced the alleged repeated incidences of rights abuses by the military against civilians who have or perceived to have ties with the communist movement.

Sen. Pia Cayetano yesterday condemned reports of government troops committing human rights violations against civilians during the conduct of their anti-

insurgency campaign in Davao province.

The senator issued the statement in support of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s call on the Army’s 3rd Special Forces to “stop harassing” civilians in Paquibato District, an area where a unit of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) led by Leoncio Pitao, also known as “Commander Parago,” reportedly has a hold on.

Pitao’s daughter, Rebelyn, 21, was last week reported to have been abducted by unidentified armed men in Davao City. A day after, her body was found bearing signs that she was sexually abused.

“The military leadership should not close its eyes to the mounting reports of abuses. It must conduct an impartial probe and also open itself and its military units in question to inquiries by other bodies, including the Commission on Human Rights, Congress and human rights organizations,” Cayetano stressed.

She also urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to hasten its investigation into Rebelyn’s case.

“The least that the PNP can do to lend meaning to the observance of International Women’s Month is to identify the perpetrators without delay. History has shown that a pure militarist approach will never resolve the root causes of the insurgency. In the case of Davao, the military hierarchy would do well to listen to the position of local civilian authorities who are only after the interest of their constituents, including the entire Davao City council and the mayor,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano, president of the Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), recently returned to the country after presiding over a series of international meetings on the advancement of women’s rights and welfare at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

“In the conferences on violence against women, legislators all over the world recognize the common thread that women and children are often victimized in areas of conflict. It’s the grim situation in the Philippines and in other nations torn by armed strife and liberation struggle.”

“It’s much worse when the violation is gender-related, as in the crime of rape. This is a barbaric act that should have no place in any counter-insurgency operation.”

“The case of Rebelyn Pitao, an ordinary civilian whose only link to the NPA is her being the daughter of a top rebel commander, strikes at the core of the state’s failure to protect human rights and women’s rights,” she noted. Angie M. Rosales

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