HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Produce Missing
Negros Labor Leader, Military Told
More than 50 days have passed since a
labor leader disappeared. The military is being eyed as a culprit, based
on a source from the inside.
BY KARL G. OMBION
Bulatlat
Geagoni |
Bacolod
City
– After more than 50 days, the family and friends of a missing labor
leader are still clueless as to the latter’s whereabouts. They all know,
however, that the military is involved in his disappearance.
Perseus
Geagoni, 42, a resident of Zone 4, Talisay City, seven kilometers north of
Bacolod City,
was last seen Dec. 5 at around 7:30 p.m.
when he borrowed a motorcycle from his sister who lives next door. He said
he needed to go to the office of the National Federation of Sugar Workers
(NFSW) in Bacolod City.
|
Fred Cana,
national council member of the human rights group Karapatan (Alliance for
the Advancement of People’s Rights), said his group has a “reliable
informant from within the military” who said Geagoni was picked up by
composite elements of 303rd Brigade, 11th Infrantry
Batallion led by Lt. Clarence Garrido, and the 87th Military
Intelligence Command (MICO) of the 3rd Infantry Division, led
by a certain Maj. Ariel Quiatchon.
Geagoni’s
wife Nieva and his sister Babeth said a few days before Geagoni’s
disappearance, they noticed two unidentified persons on a motorcycle
following him, asking neighbors about his activities and where he goes.
“Only people who are not happy with his involvement with a militant
organization, and his defense of the workers’ rights could be behind his
involuntary disappearance,” Nieva said.
Geagoni’s
family and Karapatan both insist that the military is holding Geagoni.
Cana said
that the statement of his organization’s informant is consistent with the
testimony of one of Geagoni’s kin who said that a little past 8 p.m. last
Dec. 5, as she was riding a jeepney along the Mandalagan highway from
Barangay Bata, north section of Bacolod City, she saw Geagoni on a
motorcycle being chased by two motorcycles and a gray, tinted van without
a plate number. Geagoni was heading in the direction of the city proper.
Cana said
the military and the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade
(RPA-ABB) are responsible for Geagoni’s disappearance. “The pattern of
political killings and harassments against progressive organizations in
Negros during the past months point to the military and the paramilitary
RPA-ABB as the perpetrators because of their consistent and rabid
anti-Left campaigns.”
Cana said 10
organizers were already killed this year, nine from NFSW and one from the
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP or Peasant Movement of the
Philippines).
Brig. Gen.
Joggy Leo Fojas, commanding officer of the 303rd Brigade, denied
allegations that the military was behind the killings. Fojas challenged
Karapatan to present evidence.
In December,
the family, friends and human rights organizations formed the Free Perseus
Geagoni Movement (FPGM). The group vows to locate or produce the body of
the missing organizer via fact finding missions, lobby work, pressure
campaign and legal actions.
Governor
Joseph Maranon also issued appeals to public to help in the search for the
missing NFSW labor leader. Bulatlat
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