By NESTOR B. RAMIREZ
(First of two parts)
CEBU CITY—In what could be a first in the history of extrajudicial killings in the country, a jailed suspect has offered an unusual out-of-court settlement: He pleads guilty and pays the victim’s family for damages, but the charges are downgraded to homicide which means a shorter prison sentence.
The victim was Liezelda Cuñado, women’s rights advocate and coordinator of the Gabriela Women’s Party in Candijay town in Bohol. Her alleged killer is Joel Bayron, a known member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) supervised by the 15th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Human rights advocates said the offer of settlement is a good sign, given the barely one percent conviction rate of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the country.
“Plea bargaining in extrajudicial killings cases is not common,” said human rights lawyer Al Parreño. “It’s an admission of guilt. And should the family decide to settle, at least we have a conviction.”
Bayron has been detained at the Bohol Provincial Jail since 2006, while his wife and co-accused, Gazella, is at large.
Dennis Abarrientos, chair of the human rights group Karapatan Central Visayas, said an emissary sent by the suspect made the offer to Atty. Eric Ucat, the public prosecutor handling the case. The defense has yet to make a formal manifestation in court.
But Cuñado’s family refuses to settle. “The family is not satisfied,” Abarrientos said, explaining that pleading guilty to homicide would mean Bayron getting a prison term of only 12 years, and being eligible for parole after seven.
A conviction for murder, on the other hand, would mean life imprisonment. Abarrientos added he is not privy to the amount offered to settle the case.
He explained that the family wants the full extent of the law imposed on Bayron, since the settlement could neither bring Cuñado back nor assuage the grief suffered by her husband and children.
The Bayrons were known in the community to be military assets. At 2 a.m. on April 3, 2006, the couple made a commotion in front of the Cuñado home in Barangay Panadtaran, shouting and accusing Liezelda and her husband Gerry of being communists and terrorists.
The Cuñados stepped out to settle the matter, and convinced the Bayrons to talk about it in the morning. But a few minutes later Joel returned, pulled out a pistol, and shot the Cuñados. Gerry survived the attack, while Liezelda was fatally shot on the chest.
“Gipatay si Inday (He killed Inday)!” cried the neighbors. Liezelda, 30, was declared dead on arrival at the Candijay Municipal Hospital.
Cuñado is one of 11 EJK victims in Bohol, the province with the highest number of such killings in Region VII. Of the 13 victims murdered from 2001 to 2010 in Region VII, only two are not from Bohol, which used to be a hotbed of insurgency.
In Parreño’s legal audit of EJKs in the country, he noted that most victims are members or officers of activist groups. In fact, majority of the victims served as coordinators for such groups at the time they were murdered.
Source: Atty. Al Parreno’s report on the Legal Audit of EJKs (2001-2010)
Liezelda became an activist in 1994 while she was still a student at the Southwestern University in Cebu City. Abarrientos said she studied there because her father, Cesar Estorba, was the regional chairperson of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) based in the city. Liezelda’s mother was a community health worker in Candijay, Bohol.
Liezelda returned to Bohol in 1998 to become a fulltime community organizer of Gabriela and a researcher of the Women’s Development Center (WDC) Bohol
“Women’s advocacy gyud to iyaha (She was an advocate of women’s issues),” Abarrientos said.
Killer’s motive
Karapatan Central Visayas said the motive behind the killing “was plainly to terrorize the Cuñados and to threaten their followers and sympathizers to immobilize their group.”
Abarrientos said the military wanted “to neutralize” Liezelda and Gerry because their community was the strongest in terms of membership and advocacy in Bohol. Gerry was the municipal coordinator of Bayan Muna at the time.
“Kung dunay rally gikan sa ilang community ang pinaka daghan nga maapil (The biggest contingent that will join rallies comes from their community.),” Abarrientos said.
Sources said the military allegedly asked the Bayrons to kill the couple but to make it appear that it was simply a case of conflict between neighbours.
Sources also said the military had conditioned the minds of people in the community to make them believe the Cuñados were enemies of the State. Their affiliations made them “natural targets of execution,” Karapatan said.
The couple were allegedly being harassed and threatened before the incident. Before she died, Cuñado reported to Karapatan that there were unidentified persons going in and out of the Bayron residence, whom they suspected were military men monitoring Liezelda and Gerry.
The Bayrons’ house was used as a base for the military to infiltrate the community, sources said. There were reports that the military even rescued Gazella when she was arrested right after the incident. Joel hid inside Camp Dagohoy in Tagbilaran City for six months.
“Joel was walking freely inside the military camp and was only turned over to the police four months after a warrant of arrest was issued,” a source said.
Resolution in sight?
Despite initial setbacks, the Cuñados and Karapatan are pleased that at least one of the suspects is behind bars.
“Nalipay ra mi sa dagan sa kaso kay naa man sa prisohan ang suspect. (We are happy with the progress of the case because the suspect is in jail.),” Mara Arcilla, Karapatan Central Visayas spokesperson said.
Four witnesses have executed affidavits against Bayron. Gerry will take the stand on April 1 and testify against the Bayron couple.
“We are supporting him morally and financially just to go on with the case,” Arcilla said.
But she added that they have already been inconvenienced by the postponements of the trial, since Gerry and the witnesses have to travel more than 100 kilometers from Candijay town just to attend hearings.
The hearing scheduled March 18 at Branch 49 of the Regional Trial Court in Tagbilaran City was postponed for the fifth time because Judge Pablo Magduso was in a conference. The hearing on January 17 was also postponed because the judge was again indisposed; no reason was given.
Rowena Sanchez of Karapatan Bohol said the case was originally docketed in Carmen town in 2006 but was transferred in April 2009 to Tagbilaran City.
Since the transfer, the trial has always been postponed either because Judge Magduso or prosecutor Eric Ucat were absent.
Sanchez said there is no private prosecutor for the case and that they are relying solely on the assigned government prosecutor. (to be concluded)
Read the second part, Woman leader’s killing still unsolved