SECURITY forces have asked the Bureau of Immigration to deport six foreigners who are members of a fact-finding mission that looked into the spate of atrocities committed against indigenous people, called lumad, in Mindanao.
“The Army is giving a special attention on the existence of the fake international fact-finding mission composed of six foreign tourists,” said Army spokesman Col. Benjamin Hao.
“If they are found violating our immigration laws, they will be deported and be banned forever from entering our country. The Army is also looking into the legal liability of their cohorts,” Hao said.
Based on the two-page complaint filed before the Bureau of Immigration by the military’s 4th Infantry Division and the PNP Caraga office, the six foreigners—Philip Calles, Dalkiran Metin, Henry Langston, Hans Schaap, Gill Boehringer, and Jonas Straetmans —were accused of having ties to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army.
The AFP and the PNP claimed Schaap, in particular, helped recruit members for the NPA’s Southern and Western Mindanao guerrilla fronts and has direct contact with NPA leader George Madlos.
The complaint, which also asked the BI and the Department of Foreign Affairs to “conduct a deeper investigation” on the legality of the presence of the mission in Mindanao, was signed by 4th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Oscar Lactao and PNP-Caraga police director Chief Supt. Vert Chavez.
“As tourists, they cannot meddle in the internal affairs of the country. Our immigration rules are simple and clear. They are not authorized to conduct a fact-finding mission as they had no authority from any international organization nor clearance from the DFA,” Hao said.
But Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said the military was only trying to have the foreigners deported because they are trying to hide something.
“It is aimed at whitewashing the serious allegations of human rights violations committed by its personnel and the paramilitary groups it organized,” Zarate said.
“The AFP’s threat of deporting the people who looked into the state of the lumad in Surigao del Sur says much about the Army’s guilt in the spate of killings and other human rights violations against the lumad people,” he said
“If the AFP is not hiding anything, it would gladly accept independent missions to look into the situation of the people who are directly affected by their operations,” Zarate added.
At the same time, the human rights group Karapatan accused Justice Secretary Alfredo Caguioa of not doing his job to hasten the prosecution and arrest of perpetrators and killers of innocent lumadin Mindanao.
“During meetings and hearings the DoJ would often cite the many difficulties encountered with the [Philippine National Police] and [Armed Forces of the Philippines] on the arrest of perpetrators among the military and paramilitary groups,” said Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay.
“Isn’t that the raison d’etre of the DoJ-led inter-agency task force? What’s the use of the PNP and the AFP sitting in the task force for ‘effective coordination’? This task force has accomplished nothing as far as conviction of state perpetrators of rights violations.
“It has only succeeded in exonerating high officials responsible for killings and other rights abuses and in wasting public funds,” Palabay lamented.