Human rights worker John Concepcion and his colleagues don't open their doors to unexpected visitors to their office in the eastern Philippine city of Legazpi. As members of the human rights group Karapatan, Concepcion said they needed to take extra precautions amid the continued killings of political activists and leftists allegedly perpetuated by the military in the Philippines.
"We keep our doors closed all the time," he said. "You can't just enter anytime here because we don't open our doors unless we are letting in people that we know."
Concepcion, a spokesman for Karapatan's office in the eastern region of Bicol, said that almost every day suspected military operatives were seen monitoring their base along a main street in Legazpi City, 360 kilometres south-east of Manila.
"Of course we are a bit apprehensive, especially when we see these people watching us," he said. "But this doesn't mean that we will stop our work, that we will hide or flee. We just take extra measures to ensure our security."
Since the start of the year, at least four political activists have been killed in Bicol, a hotbed of the 38-year-old communist insurgency in the Philippines. Six more were killed in other parts of the country.
The attacks are expected to worsen in the run-up to congressional and local elections in May, where leftist political parties are vying for more seats in the House of Representatives. Concepcion said leaders and members of leftist organisations were prime targets of violence allegedly perpetuated by the military in a bid to decimate their ranks ahead of the elections.
"Progressive groups are always Number 1 in elections here in Bicol, but since they failed to convince people that these are illegal groups, they have shifted to deadly tactics to block their election," he told dpa in an interview.
More than 17,000 posts are up for grabs in the upcoming May elections, including half of the 24-member Senate and more than 200 seats in the House of Representatives. With the mid-term elections being billed as a referendum on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's legitimacy amid unresolved allegations she cheated in the 2004 elections, analysts noted that a loss for the administration could spell the president's downfall.
Bayan Muna, one of the leftist political parties participating in the May 14 elections, also warned that the killings point to "a deliberate effort to cheat and use violence" to ensure the victory of administration candidates. A gunsmith in nearby Sorsogon City, where numerous leftist activists have also been killed, said firearm sales have been up ahead of the campaign period for the May 14 polls.
"It's really the wild, wild West here," he said. "Everyone is getting a gun for their safety. I don't think anyone here in the province would leave their home without a gun." The gunsmith, who requested anonymity, added that killers can easily get away with their crime since many of the firearms are unregistered.
"And if they are registered, they can just change the barrel and it would be untraceable," he said. Leftist groups have accused the military of being behind the killings, which they claim were part of a campaign to wipe out the communist insurgency in the Philippines by the end of Arroyo's term in 2010.
A presidential commission that investigated the murders said it found that the majority of the killings were indeed perpetuated by "a small group" in the military, but stressed that the deadly attacks were not a policy of the armed forces.
The commission added that other suspects in the killings were communist rebels and "goons" of politicians. But for many of the victims, the military is the only suspect, Concepcion said. "We admit that in some cases we don't have enough physical evidence against the military," he said. "But we base our conclusions on the pattern of killing, all targets are from the progressive organisations, people's groups."
He added that the brazenness of the attacks also points to the military as the perpetrators. "Even in broad daylight, they attack," he said. "Even near the police or military stations, or the center of the city or town, they kill their targets. We are surprised at the boldness of the suspects."
In one of the latest cases, 26-year-old Demetrio Imperial, was having dinner with his wife and two-year-old son in their home in Castilla town in Sorsogon province when he was shot dead by unidentified gunmen. The assailants, wearing ski masks, barged into Imperial's home and aimed their guns at his wife and son before they killed the 26-year-old leftist farmer.
"They were looking allegedly for Don's gun," Concepcion said, referring to Imperial by his nickname. "When they couldn't find the gun, they shot Don, took his motorcycle and cellular phone. His son is very traumatised now."
-DPA
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