Whitewash in The Investigation On The Deaths of Co, Cortez, and Borromeo Feared

Bulatlat.com
Published on December 10, 2010

The physical evidence gathered in the fact finding mission revealed that the trajectories of bullets were coming from and going to only one direction, refuting the military’s claim that there was a supposed gun battle between the military and members of NPA.

KANANGA, Leyte– Leonard Co, Sofronio Cortez and Julio Borromeo were not caught in a gun battle between the New People’s Army (NPA) and the19th Infantry Battalion on that fateful day of Nov. 15. This was the main finding of the independent body that recently conducted a fact finding mission from Nov. 26 to 28 in Kananga, Leyte. The report was presented in a press conference, Dec. 8.

The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The citizens’ based fact finding mission was led by Agham (Science and Technology for the People), an organization of progressive scientists dedicated to making science serve the people, not the party list group. Scientists, environmentalists, colleagues of Co and cause-oriented groups also joined the fact finding mission.

Based on news reports, Lt. Col. Federico Tutaan, commanding officer of the 19th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army, said the Nov. 15 incident was a legitimate military operation and Co’s team was caught in the crossfire. Two survivors, on the other hand, said no exchange of gunfire happened .

The physical evidence gathered in the fact finding mission revealed that the trajectories of bullets were coming from and going to only one direction, refuting the military’s claim that there was a supposed gun battle between the military and members of NPA.

Survivor’s Account
On Nov. 15, Co together with four other companions resumed their work. Based on the account of officials of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), at about 9:00 a.m., Co decided to go to W403 pad, which is out of the itinerary. (Click here for complete fact finding report). A pad is a forested area inside the EDC complex where research studies are mostly being conducted.

“But this is not out of the ordinary, according to the EDC,” said Dr. Giovanni Tapang, national chairman of Agham and convener of Justice for Leonard Co Movement, who joined the fact finding mission team. The EDC, said Tapang, was informed of Co’s decision.

W403 pad is where the incident happened. The EDC complex is also where the Leyte Geothermal Facility is operating. In a sworn statement by Ronino Gibe, 24, survivor in the shooting incident, at about 9:00 a.m. their team reached W403 pad. Their team was composed of Co, Cortez, Borromeo, Gibe and another survivor Policarpio Balute.

Gibe said it rained while they were conducting their work. They were surveying the forest, measuring the trees and marking them. Gibe said that at about 10 meters from the parking area (called well pad) of W403, they saw a big tree and it became the starting point of the survey. The big tree or Tree No. 1 (Mayapis tree) was marked with 5-01, three meters away they saw Tree No. 2 (Syzigium tree) and marked it with 5-02. About 59 meters from Tree No. 1 is where they saw Tree No. 3 (Tanguile tree).

In Tree No. 3 they saw a fruit called Talisay-gubat but could not find its mother tree. It continued to rain so Co decided to stop the survey. By then, Balute texted the driver, a certain Romy Momo, to fetch them at the W403 pad. But suddenly, the rain stopped and Co decided to continue working together with the rest of the group. A few steps away, they saw Tree No. 4, which they had a hard time identifying.

“Because the whole group was helping to identify the tree, I noticed that we were all looking up Tree No. 4 to see its leaves,” Gibe said in his statement. He said during that time, Borromeo was standing to his left and Co at his right side. Beside Co was Cortez and at the back of the tree was Balute. “After taking a picture of the tree, I put my cellphone back in my jacket. Just before 12:00 noon, we heard a burst of gunfire coming from behind us…we dived to the ground when we heard the gunfire. Then I heard someone shout, ‘We are not enemies, please stop.’ That voice sounded like Carping’s (Balute).”

According to Gibe, the gunfire lasted about 20 minutes. He crawled and hid in the buttress of a tree near Tree No. 4. When the gunfire stopped, he saw men in military uniform with firearms and ammunition approaching their place. After the gunfire stopped, Borromeo was not moving while Co and Cortez were already dead.

Balute was able to run away from the place of the shooting.

Gibe said if he moved, he could have been hit. “I didn’t have the opportunity to run because I felt that the guns were aimed low because there were bullets hitting the tree where I was hiding. I could see the bark of the trees being sliced by bullets.”

When he saw the soldiers approaching, Gibe went out with his hands up and said, “I am here; They are with me, we are not enemies!”

Then the soldiers told him to step out of hiding and put down his firearm. They asked him where his two companions carrying firearms went. He said he had no firearm nor his companions. He pleaded to the soldiers to bring his wounded companions to the hospital, but he was ignored. Then Gibe was told by the soldier to “lie down and look away.”

Borromeo Still Alive After Shooting
Borromeo was still alive after the shooting, according to Gibe. When he pleaded with the soldiers to bring his companions to the hospital, Gibe said, he was told, “No, your companions would no longer make it to the hospital.” Instead of bringing the wounded to the hospital, Gibe was asked questions such as if they really coordinated with the EDC and what they were doing in the area. He noticed that the soldiers seemed to be discussing what to do. The meeting of the soldiers and the occasional questioning lasted for two hours.

The soldiers told him that they have been in the area observing for 30 minutes when they saw three men with firearms walking in the area where Co’s team was working. The soldiers said they were conducting a military operation in the area and that two of their colleagues were killed. Gibe told the soldiers what they were doing in the area and named his contacts in the EDC. The soldiers replied, “Do not make any noise! You are already safe.”

For two hours, Borromeo was left lying on the ground with a gunshot wound near his heart. Gibe said he could still hear Borromeo moaning and moving. It was only by around 2:00 p.m. when the soldiers administered first aid on Borromeo. Gibe was told to get up and proceed to pad W403. At around 3:00 p.m., Gibe heard from the soldiers that Borromeo was already dead. The bodies of Co and Cortez were also brought down to the pad.

“The failure of the military unit involved to provide immediate medical attention and hospital treatment to Borromeo prolonged his agony and ultimately led to his death. The military waited at least one hour after they approached Gibe before bringing down the bodies and the survivor despite repeated requests from Gibe and Borromeo, who was still alive then,” the team said.

Military’s Defense, Incredible
It was a chance encounter, Tutaan told the fact finding team. Tutaan even claimed that an NPA was wounded in the armed clash. He also told the fact finding team that there was an exchange of gunfire and that the NPA fired first.

Tutaan said that at around 12:30 noon, a unit from the 19th IB led by 1Lt. Ronald Odchimar chanced upon the NPA, and an exchange of gunfire ensued. According to Tutaan, the gun battle lasted for some 10 to 12 minutes.

Tutaan said his unit was concealed and was in a better position. He said his unit was fired at and they only fired back. During the gunfight, Tutaan said, the “enemy” retreated with one of them wounded. It was only after the gunfight, Tutaan claimed, that his unit realized that there were civilians in the area. These civilians were the group of Co.

According to the team’s report “Even supposing that it was the NPA who were on the ridge and the military was positioned at a higher vantage point – which was difficult to reach – to the east, there were no indications of any bullet hitting the higher vantage point from the direction of the ridge.”

The fact finding team measured the distance from the tree where Co and his group were working to the vantage position of the military. It is only about 50 to 60 meters. (Refer to video below.) The distance from the military’s position to the parking area of W403 pad is only 200 meters. Thus, the team concluded, it was impossible for the soldiers not to see and hear Co and his companions.

Tutaan told the fact finding team that his unit’s operation was legitimate because it was authorized by the command of the brigade.

But based on the team’s observations during the site visit, the following were concluded: The direction of the bullet marks on the trees originated from a vantage point on the ridge above Co and his team; the direction of fire was concentrated on the area where Leonard and his four other companions were standing; Tree no.4 was hit three times and the large tree where Gibe hid had six bullet marks.

Tutaan said they received an intelligence report on Nov. 12 that there were sightings of members of the NPA in the general area outside the periphery of the EDC complex. On Nov. 14, Tutaan said, he started to send several units of the Army in search of the NPA. Tutaan said their national mandate is to secure the strategic energy industry. Their area of responsibility, said Tutaan, is outside the periphery of the EDC complex. However, the shooting took place inside the EDC complex.

Tutaan said his unit has been closely coordinating with the EDC for quite some time because the area outside the EDC complex, around 10 to 12 kilometers away, is a known “play ground” of the NPA. Tutaan said they follow a “protocol” with the company. However, Tutaan did not elaborate on the supposed protocol. He also said information about their combat operations are regularly shared with the EDC.

However, Manuel Paete, EDC resident manager, said that on Nov. 15 they did not receive any report from the military nor were they informed that there was an operation by the military.

Mayor Elmer Codilla of Kananga, Leyte also said there were reports that NPA guerrillas are roaming within the vicinity of EDC. Cadilla, however, could not answer how they verified such reports.

But Borromeo’s family, who are residents of barangay (village) Tongonan, Ormoc Leyte, said they are not aware of the presence of the NPA in the area.

The EDC complex is 200 hectares, from Kananga it extends up to Ormoc City comprised of three barangays, according to Codilla. The EDC complex as well as the adjacent barangays are mountainous areas.

Estelita Pañga Bayo, 67, godmother of Borromeo, and Borromeo’s wife refuted Tutaan’s statement that the area near the EDC complex is the “playground” of the NPA. “I have lived here for 67 years. There has not been a single encounter between the NPA and military in this area nor does the NPA operate here. Generally our place is peaceful.” She added that a week before Nov. 15, EDC hired at least 30 workers from Basey, Samar to harvest rattan inside the EDC complex.

Co arrived at the EDC complex on Nov. 9 for the “Taxonomic Identification, Collection, Procurement and Management of Seeds, Wildings and Seedlings and Assistance in Establishment of Partnerships and Mother Trees for the Binhi Tree for the Future” program of the EDC. According to Paete and Ernie Calumpit, head security of the EDC, Co had already visited areas in the complex since Nov. 10. From Nov. 10 to 13, Co had visited and worked in various pads.

Whitewash?
Justice for Leonard Co Movement feared a possible whitewash in the investigation on the deaths of Co, Cortez, and Borromeo. Tapang said a team from the Philippine National Police-Scene of the Crime Operatives (PNP-SOCO) was able to visit the site 20 hours after the incident and no one from the EDC joined the SOCO. It was only on Nov. 17 that the EDC was able to access the site.

“What happened during the 20 hours between the incident and the arrival of the SOCO team?” the team asked. “The military was present at the incident site all the time since the shooting until after they brought down the bodies. The police was also not allowed to go to the site immediately since the military said they were conducting hot pursuit operations. This failure to secure the site early by the police and the EDC is glaring and puts the reports of the SOCO and the military into a questionable position.”

Tapang said the EDC staff also failed to explain why no EDC personnel were present during the SOCO investigation.

Recommendations
The team expressed concerns regarding the safety of the survivors and their families. During the wake of Borromeo, the victim’s family was visited by men asking rudely for the whereabouts of another survivor, Balute. There were also motorcycle-riding men who tailed some of the team members who visited the communities where the families of the victims and survivors lived. The team called on groups and institutions to provide sanctuary for the survivors and their families.

The team recommends the following:

Those who are responsible for the deaths of Co and his companions, from all levels of the military, should be investigated and appropriate charges be filed against them.

The 19th IB should release the names of the members of the squad and platoon, including their commanding officers, involved in the shooting of Co and company. The firearms of these officers and enlisted men should be secured and surrendered to the proper authorities;

The liability of the military personnel who failed to give Borromeo immediate medical attention and bring him to a hospital should also be fully investigated and appropriate charges be filed against them;

The EDC should clarify the protocols for their communications and coordination with the military especially since there are still other activities [similar to what Co's team was doing] which the EDC continues to conduct;

The EDC should also clarify the extent of their work area and when they would be responsible for the security of their own personnel.

The EDC, the 19th IB and the PNP should make accessible all documents that would further shed light on the incident. (Bulatlat.com)