Extra-judicial killing of Mr. Franklin Cabiguin Labial, peasant leader

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention on the following situation in the Philippines.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) about the extra-judicial killing of Mr. Franklin Cabiguin Labial, a peasant leader and the President of the Don Carlos Bukidnon United Farmers Association, Inc. (DCBUFAI).

According to the information received, on August 10, 2007, at 5.30 pm, Mr. Franklin Cabiguin Labial was gunned down by two unknown assailants in front of his house in Don Carlos, Bukidnon Province (Island of Mindanao). Mr. Labial died on the spot, sustaining an intra-cranial injury. The perpetrators were reportedly riding a red motorcycle and had been tailing the victim since the marketplace. They fled immediately after the killing.

On August 9, 2007, Mr. Labial had gone to the office of Southern Fruits Products, Inc and Davao Venture Corporation (SFPI-DAVCO), a sister company owned by the Floriendo family (a prominent farm developer in Davao City). DAVCO has a lease agreement over the land Mr. Labial and his group of farmers are applying for tenural agreement[1]. Under this lease-agreement, DAVCO already appropriated some 800 hectares of the total 2,900 hectares claimed by agrarian reform beneficiaries, i.e. the indigenous peoples who are actual tillers and/or occupants. Accordingly, Mr. Labial demanded that the manager stop the clearing of land in the area in question. About 20 hectares will be further subjected to land clearing, if they were to be acquired by the said company. Mr. Labial also spoke to the Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

On July 14, 2007, Mr. Labial had already received death threats through text messages, on the day after he had questioned the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Law (CARL) and contracts of the SFPI-DAVCO at an inter-agency consultation. He had also referred to the destruction of crops and houses of the farmers who refused to enter into lease agreement with SFPI-DAVCO. He had accused the company of using a backhoe to clear the land already planted with cops, fruit trees and coconut trees by the farmers and in tearing down their houses in some areas. He had also condemned the killings that happened in the area against the farmers and an indigenous person struggling for their right to own a piece of land.

Mr. Labial was also his organization’s representative to the newly-formed Task Force ARAD, which was formed on July 13, 2007 among concerned government agencies, NGOs and affected people’s organisations concerning dispute over the contested Carpable Cohunagco estate. In addition, he was the Vice-Chairperson of the Makabayan Pilipinas, Bukidnon Chapter (Makabayang Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Inc), the Provincial Chairperson of Sanlakas- Bukidnon and the Secretary General of the Coalition of Actual Tiller and CLOA Holders in Bukidnon Farms, Inc (CATCH -BFI).

At the time of issuing this urgent appeal, the police are still conducting investigation regarding the perpetrators.

The Observatory expresses its deep concern about the ongoing attacks against human rights defenders perpetrated by both state and non-state actors in the Philippines, and recalls that the Philippines has been elected as a member of the Human Rights Council until 2010 and has, in this regard, committed to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights”[2].

The Observatory further recalls that according to Article 12.2 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”.

Actions required:

Please write to the authorities of Philippines urging them to:

1. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in the Philippines;
2. Conduct a fair and impartial investigation into the assassination of Mr. Franklin Cabiguin Labial in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by the law;
3. Guarantee that adequate reparation is provided to his relatives;
4. End all forms of harassment and ill-treatment of human rights defenders in the Philippines, and guarantee in all circumstances that they be able to carry out their work without any hindrance;
5. Conform with all the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, especially its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels” and above-mentioned Article 12.2;
6. More generally, ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by the Philippines.

Addresses:

• H.E. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Republic, New Executive Building, Malacanang Palace, JP Laurel St., San Miguel, Manila 1005, Philippines. Tel: +63 2 735 6201 / + 63 2 564 1451 to 80 ; Fax: +63 2 736 1010 / 742-1641 / 929-3968; Cell#: (+ 63) 919 898 4622 / (+63) 917 839 8462; E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph / kgma@yahoogroups.com;
• Mr. José de Venecia Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rm. MB-2, House of Representatives, Constitution Hills, Quezon City, Philippines; Tel: +632.9315001;
• Hon. Purificacion Valera Quisumbing, Commissioner, Commission on Human Rights, SAAC Building, Commonwealth Avenue, U.P. Complex, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines; Tel: + 632 928 5655 / 926 6188; Fax: 632 929 01 02; drpvq@yahoo.com
• Mr. Raul Gonzales, Minister of Justice, Department of Justice, Building Padre Faura, 1004 Manila, Philippines; Tel: +63 (2) 523-8481; Fax: +63 (2) 521-1614; Email: sechbp@info.com.ph
• Director General Oscar Calderon, Chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Camp General Rafael Crame, Quezon City, Philippines; Tel: +632 726-4361/4366/8763; Fax: +632 724-8763; Email: bluetree73@gmail.com
• Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo, Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations in Geneva, 47 Avenue Blanc, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 716 19 32, Email: mission.philippines@ties.itu.int
• Embassy of the Philippines in Brussels, 297 Avenue Moliere, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Tel: +32 2 340 33 77 / 2 340 33 78, Fax: +32 2 345 64 25.

Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of the Philippines in your respective country.

***

Geneva - Paris, August 30, 2007

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] As agrarian reform beneficiaries, Mr. Labial and his group of farmers claimed some 100-hectare parcel of the 2,900-hectare of the Construction Development Corporation of the Philippines (CDCP). In 1989, CDCP was among the sequestered land estates under the Comprehensive Agrarian Law (CARL) to be distributed to farmers. As a sequestered property, CDCP was later renamed as Bukidnon Farms Inc. (BFI). BFI consists of three big land titles covering the municipalities of Don Carlos and Maramag in the province of Bukidnon. The DAR granted 109 hectares to the agrarian reform beneficiaries, but it was found out that only 60 hectares have remained under their control since the intrusion of DAVCO in 2005.

[2] See OP9 of UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/60/251.