One year after Commander Parago's daughter's death Bayan: DCPO Taskforce Rebelyn inutile

PRESS RELEASE

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Davao City - After a year of still unresolved rape and murder case of Rebelyn Pitao, Bayan and other human rights groups launched a protest rally at Camp Leonor today against the Davao City Police Office - Task Force Rebelyn concrete.

“Like other crimes which involves the military, Rebelyn Pitao's case remains bereft of justice. The police is not likely to pinpoint a clear suspect from the military intelligence community. This is more than a display of inutility on their part, this is an utter mockery of the rule of law,” Bayan SMR spokesperson John Birondo said.

Rebelyn Pitao was abducted last March 4, 2009; a day later, her lifeless body--bearing several stab wounds and rape marks--was found in an irrigation ditch in San Isidro, Carmen, Davao del Norte.

“There is no justification to the crime committed against an innocent civilian like Rebelyn. She was murdered because she was the daughter of NPA leader Leoncio Pitao a.k.a. “Ka Parago” – a crime that is clearly against the International Humanitarian Law (IHL),” Birondo stressed.

“The police until now has taken no actions to, at the very least, hold under investigation the suspects who were identified members of the Military Intelligence Group (MIG) of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) and the Military Intelligence Battalion of the 10th Infantry Division,” Birondo said.

Bayan named Ben Tipait, Aldan Sulao, Helvin Bitang and Pedring Pedregosa of the Military Intelligence Group to be the suspects in the killing.

“There was a chance for the police to pursue the case against Ben Tipait when he was detained at the Buhangin police station last month for violating gun ban. But he was released immediately, a clear act of connivance with the MIG to protect its most trusted agents," Birondo noted.

“The immediate release of Tipait was very anomalous given that he was released on a Sunday -- a move to hide him away from investigations on Rebelyn’s murder case,” Birondo said.

“Rebelyn’s case is just one of the crimes committed by the Arroyo regime against thousands of innocent civilians. And even as Gloria Arroyo's days in power are supposedly numbered, her fascist regime through the Armed Forces of the Philippines is relentless in violating human rights and in committing crimes against humanity,” Birondo lamented.

"While these criminals enjoy the rule of impunity, the family of Rebelyn Pitao continues to struggle for the justice they have long been wanting," Birondo ended.