One year and still no justice for the Kanangga 3

 One year and still no justice for the Kanangga 3

“Leonard’s family and the public continue to thirst for justice in the face of the turtle-pace investigation. It angers us that already a year has passed and still not a single word or action can be felt from the Aquino administration.” – Dr. Giovanni Tapang, convenor of the Justice for Leonard Co Movement.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL and INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO

Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Friends, colleagues and the family of slain botanist Leonard Co held a picket at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Nov. 15, Tuesday as they mark the first death anniversary of the renowned botanist and his two companions, Julius Borromeo, a farmer and Soforonio Cortez, a forest guard.

The 50-year old Cortez worked as a forest guard and a regular employee of the EDC for the past 26 years. He left behind his wife, Arsenia, and three children.

A farmer, Borromeo was the only breadwinner and the father of six. He was among the contractual guides hired for Co’s five-day fieldwork.

“Leonard’s family and the public continue to thirst for justice in the face of the turtle-pace investigation. It angers us that already a year has passed and still not a single word or action can be felt from the Aquino administration,” said Dr. Giovanni Tapang, convenor of the Justice for Leonard Co Movement.

“It is my son who got killed. What we want is justice,” said Lian Seng Co, father of Leonard Co.(Photo by Anne Marxze D. Umil / Bulatlat.com)

On Nov. 15, 2010, Co, Borromeo and Cortez were gunned down inside the compound of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) in Kananga, Leyte allegedly by elements of the 19th Infantry Battalion (IB) Philippine Army. Co’s group was working on a research for EDC when soldiers fired at his team. According to the military there was an encounter with the New People’s Army. But evidences and the statements of surviving witnesses Ronino Gibe and Policarpio Balute (part of Co’s team) reveal that there was no other armed group in the area aside from the soldiers of the 19th IB.
Co was cremated on November 23 in Quezon City; part of his ashes were scattered over a dita tree in UP and in Palanan, Isabela. Borromeo and Cortez were laid to rest by their families on November 25, in Leyte.

On January 26, 2011, Co’s family led by his widow Glenda filed murder charges at the DOJ against members of the 19th IB. The accused soldiers numbering 38 in all were all present during the massacre; among those named as respondents are a two junior officers, 1Lt. Ronald Odchimar and 2Lt. Cameron Perez.

Earlier that same month, the DOJ and National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) own fact-finding team released its report, which cleared the 19th IB in the killing. On January 26, Co’s family protested against the DOJ report and filed formal criminal charges of murder against the 19th IB, seeking a formal preliminary investigation.

On February 22, 100 days after the killing, the Justice for Leonard Co Movement picketed the DOJ and called on DOJ Secretary De Lima to replace the head of its investigating panel, who was also part of the original DOJ-NBI team. Both the CHR and the DOJ have conducted more hearings since then, but neither agencies have released their conclusive reports to date.

Aquino’s inaction

(Photo by Anne Marxze D. Umil / Bulatlat.com)

The group criticized President Benigno S. Aquino III for his continuing silence on the killings of Co and his group.

“If it’s true that the President is taking the straight path, then the perpetrators should be in jail by now. But one year has passed and still he is silent on Co’s death,” Tapang said . He said Aquino’s inaction perpetrates the culture of impunity that reigned in the country since the past administrations. “It makes him no different from the regimes that preceded him,” Tapang added.

“If he can talk about Manny Pacquiao’s victory, how can he not talk about Leonard’s case?” Tapang said..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/16/one-year-and-still-no-justice-for-the-kanangga-3/