User:Alternativity/sandbox/Participation of Philippine Military and Police Personnel

The Philippine Military, headed by former Secretary of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile and the Philippine Constabulary, under Fidel V. Ramos, were primarily involved with these Human Rights abuses. Both military entities were also responsible in enabling and sustaining authoritarian rule by threats, intimidation and violence in media entities, corporate management, and opposition groups. The president’s cousin and security chief Fabian Ver was also one of the main players in capturing suspected communists. He commanded both the Presidential Security Unit and the National Intelligence and Security Authority (NISA). CLOSENESS TO FM

Before Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, the military relied on legal processes of arrest and detention of suspected subversives. However, when Marcos issued Proclamation 1081, it included the suspension of the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus. The following weeks after his declaration, the regime rounded up an approximate 50,000 suspected subversives. Police and military were given blanket Arrest Search and Seizure Order (ASSO) or Presidential Commitment Order (PCO), which they used to confine suspects in “safe houses” where they did “tactical interrogations”. Many of these ‘tactics’ included physical, psychological, sexual and emotional torture.

Involved Military Personnel


 * Managing Editor's Note: Please sort by unit and commander, not PMA batch. You can identify the PMA batches of individuals, but be wary of making any implications/generalization here, even if it's asserted in a source. Would prefer "The units that became most notorious (citation) for "extreme torture methods"(citation) were the anti-subversive units,(citation) namely the 5th Constabulary Security Unit (CSU)(citation) and the Metrocom Intelligence and Security Group (MISG)(citation).  Most of the officer recruits to these units were drawn from Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Batch ’71, which graduated only 18 months before the declaration of martial Law.(citation)" It's fine to use the same citation multiple times up to a point, but supporting citations per fact would be ideal. But please see the proposed outline I sent you. (Just delete this paragraph when you're done. :D)

The Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Batch ’71, which graduated only 18 months before the declaration of martial Law, was assigned to anti-subversive units that regularly tortured suspected communists. Some members of this batch became part of the 5th Constabulary Security Unit (CSU), others of the Metrocom Intelligence and Security Group (MISG). Both these groups are notorious for their extreme torture methods, including burning of genitals, gang rape, and electrocution. (see also)

The 5th CSU was under the administrative control of Gen. Fidel V Ramos and the operational control of NISA Chief, Fabian Ver. The unit is known to be the ‘star performers’ of torture, both in the military and among human rights groups. The following are personnel of the 5th CSU:

Col. Rolando Abadilla- nicknamed ‘Kabisi’, was the chief of MISG. Before Martial Law, Abadilla was involved in the Jabidah Massacre in 1968. He was court-martialed for allegedly shooting Muslim recruits.

Lt. Col. Miguel Aure- Aure served as a commander of the 5th CSU. His unit specialized in the “Meralco Treatment” or electrocution using a military field telephone. One of his victims include Capt. Vizmanos, a Navy official suspected as a member of the Communist Party. Aure called for Vizmanos in the middle of the night in 1974, for a ‘brief interview’. This turned uni a two-year detention. Aure was also implicated in the torture and murder of Purificacion Pedro, a social worker. Ms. Pedro was with friends associated with the New People’s Army when they had a clash with a patrol of the Philippine Constabulary. She was shot and captured, and brought to a hospital to be treated. A few days later, she was pronounced dead in what appeared to be a ‘set-up’ suicide. Doctors ruled it out as “asphyxia due to strangulation by hanging” even though her dress was wet and she showed signs of being drowned.

First Lt. Rodolfo Aguinaldo-  Aguinaldo is considered one of the most brutal and notorious of military men involved with torture. His victims include Loretta Ann Rosales of the Hurman Rights Commission, news editor Saturnino Ocampo, and Marco Palo, a property manager. Palo narrated his experience under Aguinaldo, who beat him up while interrogating him. The lieutenant forced him to confess his involvement with the New People’s Army. Palo continually stood firm on his innocence. Aguinaldo then told him to strip. He was then electrocuted over and over for two hours. The legal summary of his abuse also included being “pummeled with kicks; his head banged several times against a concrete wall; his ears clapped simultaneously; and strangulation.” He was later transferred to another location where he was blindfolded for three nights and four days straight, mauled, beaten, choked, and threatened with murder if he failed to cooperate. He was later able to identify Aguinaldo’s voice, as well as Lt. Col. Panfilo Lacson and Lt. Pedro Tangco. Lacson, when asked for comment

Edgar Jopson, another one of his victims, revealed that Aguinaldo used sadistic psy-war tactics. According to Jopson, Aguinaldo would “court and seduce the wives and sisters of political detainees. In interrogation sessions he would pry on marital or sibling problems, then he will offer an early release for the detainee. If the ex-detainee rejoins the movement, Aguinaldo would threaten to harm the wife and his relatives, particularly after he has learned so much about them.

First Lt. Victor Batac

First Lt. Billy Bibit

First Lt. Eduardo Matillano

Many accounts of victims of Human Rights abuses detail illegal practices of the military. Hilda Narciso, one of the victims, details being forcibly taken, handcuffed, blindfolded and led to the back of a car, all without a warrant of arrest. The house she was staying at was searched for weapons and subversive materials.

By 1975, the increasing human rights abuses attracted international criticism, particularly from Amnesty International (AI) and Washington. In AI’s first report about the Philippines in December that year, they revealed the “systematic and severe torture” handled by the Fifth Constabulary Security Unit (CSU). AI found convincing evidence of widespread torture among prisoners, enabled by Marcos’s suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and the absence of judicial oversight. This created tensions between the United States and the Philippines. A few months after the Amnesty International report was released, U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced his policies to promote universal human rights, pressuring Marcos about his dictatorial methods. Marcos responded by “vaguely threatening to abrogate the U.S military bases agreement”, but did not follow through on this threat. In October 1976, Marcos announced that 2,700 military personnel were to undergo disciplinary actions for “maltreating prisoners held under martial law”. Marcos also confessed at the 1977 World Peace through law Conference in Manila that “there have been, to our lasting regret, a number of violations of the rights of detainees”. He soon reduced the number of detainees from 6,000 in 1975 to only 563, in time for Carter’s human rights campaign. To further rebuild his image, he renamed the notorious Fifth Constabulary as the Regional Security Unit-4. In 1978, Marcos agreed to extend the lease on the U.S. bases in exchange for $500 million in aid. After that bilateral agreement between the two countries, the Carter administration turned a blind eye to Marcos’ human rights violations. State Department official Richard Holbrooke explained, “We had to choose between using our bilateral relationship for human rights objectives and using it first for putting our military facilities on a stable basis”. Human rights abuses continued despite Carter’s campaigns, only this time they were conducted away from prisons, and into ‘safe houses’. From only 3 ‘salvagings’ in 1975, it rose to 538 in 1984, sustaining terror among the public despite Marcos’ lift of Martial Law in 1981.

-torturers

-prominent victims (take from the original article)

-american collusion

-reports of amnesty international, victim’s testimonies, no one was charged