The Department of Justice (DOJ) has created a special team to investigate the spate of lumad killings in the South.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the team is composed of five members from the National Prosecution Service (NPS) and 11 from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and will be headed by a deputy director of the NBI.
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Under Department Order 792, the special team is composed of Assistant State Prosecutors Arnod L. Magpantay, Benjamin R. Samson, Marmarie P. Satin-Vivas, Mary Jane W. Sytat and Rohairah A. Lao.
The NBI component is composed of Assistant Regional Director Roel S. Bolivar-Deputy Director for Regional Operations Service (DDROS), Special Agent Darwin Camilo A. Lising, Agent Ruel J. Dugayon, Special Investigator III Vonbar P. Lluisma, Special Investigator III Jonathan V. Balite, Special Investigator III Geraldo P. De Luna, Acting Assistant Regional Director Jerry Y. Abiera, Special Investigator IV Danilo J. Cabanlet, Special Agent Ferdinand V. Balduman and Special Investigator III Gabriel C. Falcon Jr.
The overall head of the team is NBI Deputy Director Edmundo T. Arugay.
“The Joint Special Investigation Team shall conduct a thorough and in-depth investigation and case build-up in connection with the alleged transgressions against the Lumads,” de Lima’s Department Order stated.
To be investigated, de Lima said, are alleged transgressions against indigenous peoples (IPs), specifically the incident at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Haran Compound in Davao, Talaingod in Davao del Norte, Pangantucan in Bukidnon and Lianga in Surigao del Sur.
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The team has been tasked to gather, review and evaluate evidence including official reports and other documentation of incidents made by concerned government agencies including the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Local Government Unites (LGUs), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), Department of Social Works and Development (DSWD) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
The team is also tasked to study reports and other documentations of other sources including those from IP communities, their organizations and local media, testimonies and affidavits of witnesses, reports from the Scene of the Crime Operative (SOCO), Medico-Legal, autopsy, hospital records and ballistic reports and interview of new witnesses.
“Pursuant to the said directive, the NBI team shall exhaust all legal means available for the identification of informants who will give leads in the investigation and, when feasible, secure the cooperation of the least guilty participants in the alleged transgressions for purposes of turning them into witnesses for the State against the most guilty perpetrators,” de Lima said.
De Lima said the team shall regularly submit reports to her as well as recommendations on who and what appropriate cases should be filed.
The team has 60 days to submit its final report.
De Lima created the team following an order from Malacañang for an investigation on the allegations.
The same memorandum signed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa also ordered the OPAPP and the NCIP and all other agencies to “extend full assistance to the DOJ’s investigation.”
“We want to know the root causes of these incidents,” de Lima told reporters during the 118th anniversary of the DOJ.
The special team will determine where paramilitary units in affected areas get their funds and firearms.
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“There are those who say it could be the mining companies or the left but of course these are all theories and we need to dig deeper. We have to know the cause of the lawless activities … There is already so much displacement among the Lumads,” De Lima said.
She added that the team would also determine the extent of the military’s presence in the area.
“We have to determine what is the real state of affairs in the area. Of course it is the military’s mandate to protect the areas they believe are under the influence of rebel groups. Pwede naman justified ‘yung presence nila but pwede ring nasobrahan,” she added.
She said the end view of the investigation would be to file cases and create a long-term solution that would put an end to the violence against the IPs. CB/IDL