They were supposed to be high-profile rebels, nay peace consultants, of the failed talks between the Philippine government and the communist insurgents.
But when they died, nay killed, there was nothing on radio, on the tabloids, even in the morning news that usually banner death and gore before breakfast.
At about 12 noon on November 25, nearly nine hours after the incident, VJ Topacio received a call informing him about the incident. He was flabbergasted.
He tried to search for details about the pre-dawn police raid in Angono town in the province of Rizal, but he could not find anything.
Police later claimed that the couple — Eugenia Magpantay and Agaton Topacio — were killed in a shootout with about 50 police personnel.
Police said the elderly couple “resisted arrest” and died in a gunfight.
Earlier, Magpantay suffered a stroke and was in coma for four days. She was also a diabetic. Topacio, meanwhile, had an enlargement of the heart.
VJ said it was “physically impossible” for the couple to even dash a few meters to escape or evade arrest.
“Why were they not arrested alive? Why were they killed given that they could not even carry themselves without aid,” asked the lawyer.
Peace talks is dead
General Debold Sinas, the country’s police chief, dismissed allegations that the couple died in a “mafia-style execution,” like what happened to other peace consultants who died in recent months.
“These two are not just ordinary couples,” said the police general.
“They are hardened terrorists, and based on the findings after the operation, they were deeply involved in the underground movement,” he added.
A statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines said Magpantay and Topacio “have recently retired from active duty in the revolutionary movement due to infirmities of old age.”
The rebel group said the couple was working as peace consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines at the time of their death.
The couple was supposedly under the protection of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees inked by the government and the rebels in 1995.
The deal supposedly guarantees all participants in the peace process safety and immunity from detention, arrests, and murder.
The lawyer said the elderly couple died in a “cold-blooded murder” and their killing was “a violation” of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law that was signed in 1998.
Peace negotiations with the communist rebels were, however, stalled after President Rodrigo Duterte declared the Communist Party of the Philippines a terrorist organization in 2018.
An “all-out-war” against the rebels led to the arrest and killings of peace consultants and other members of the negotiating panel.
In January 2019, peace consultant Randy Malayao was shot dead inside a bus. Early this year, Randall Echanis and Julius Giron, who served as consultants during the talks, were also killed.
Peace advocates and human rights groups fear of more killings in the coming months due to what they described as the “deteriorating peace situation” in the country.
On December 7, President Duterte said there will be “no ceasefire ever again” with the communist rebels during the Christmas season.
“For all intents and purposes, the ceasefire is dead,” he said.
In search of bodies
It was already past three o’clock in the afternoon and still VJ did not get additional information about the killings.
“There was a news blackout,” he later said. So he decided to break protocol and went to the scene of the crime.
It is a standard security protocol for human rights lawyers not to go to a crime scene alone or without other members of other human rights organizations.
“There was nobody in the house. The crime scene was empty,” recalled the lawyer. No one could tell him the whereabouts of the couple or what really happened.
Hoping against hope that Magpantay and Topacio were still alive, VJ proceeded to nearby police camps to inquire. But there was nothing there, too.
“Anxiety was overwhelming but we need to maintain composure,” said the lawyer.
Then it was time to face his greatest fear.
He visited several morgues and funeral homes where hope ends and grief and the cry for justice begin.
In a poor-lighted room, inside a funeral house in the city of Antipolo, east of the Philippine capital, VJ found the cold lifeless bodies of the two elderly, retired revolutionaries.
But the police refused to release the bodies.
“They want us to prove the identity of the corpses,” said VJ. “It was absurd. They just killed [the couple], but they were not sure of their identities?” he said.
When finally the bodies were released, the police were not able to present a report or any medico-legal document.
“There was no cause of death because there was no report. There was no death certificate,” said the lawyer.
“How can they claim that [Magpantay and Topacio] died in a legitimate police operation if there were no paperwork at all,” said VJ.
It took two days before the bodies were finally turned over to the grieving family.
VJ said the police could have just arrested the couple. “At least I can represent them in court,” he said.
“But it is now too late,” said the lawyer. “I cannot defend my parents in court.”
Source: Licas Philippines
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