House to probe Geertman killing

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    CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Amid reports that slain Dutch missionary Willem Geertman had received death threats in relation to his work as “peasant advocate”, Anakpawis  Rep.Rafael Mariano has filed a resolution urging the House Human Rights Committee to look into his murder in this town last July 3.

    Mariano’s House Resolution 2551 cited the victim’s brother Antonius Ma. Alfonsius Geertman as urging Philippine authorities to consider Willem as “a victim of extra judicial killing due to his involvement  in campaigns against landlessness, mining, logging and a large Freeport project in Aurora province.”

    Antonius, together with a sister, flew in from the Netherlands to attend the burial of Willem in Baler, Aurora last Sunday. Willem was the executive director of Alay Bayan, Inc., based in Barangay Telebastagan where he was fatally shot here.

    “Antonius believes that the killing of his brother is much more than just ordinary robbery for money,” Mariano said, noting that Antonius reported that as early as four years ago, Willem had told him about death threats “owing to his work as lay missionary involved in campaigns to save the forests as a resource for farmers, Dumagats, and Cordillerans.”

    Mariano’s resolution also quoted  Roman  Polintan,  chair  of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Central  Luzon,  and  Sr. Cecil Ruiz, chair of the human rights group Karapatan-Central Luzon,  as reporting that Willem was “among  those maligned  by  the military at the height of the Arroyo government’s campaign against the communist insurgency in 2006 and 2007.”

    “They  further  alleged  that  the  Army’s  48th  Infantry battalion  produced  a fake letter that indicated Geertman as a ranking  leader of the communist insurgency and was gathering support  for  the production  and  stockpiling  of improvised explosive  devices,” Mariano said.

    He noted, however, that Willem “did not allow the attack on his reputation to hamper  his  work  and  continued  to work  with the masses of Aurora against destructive large-scale mining and logging  in  the  province.”

    Mariano also recalled the circumstances around the fatal shooting of Willem, quoting report of the Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR) saying that last July 3, “Geertman  had  just finished  financial  transactions  at Metro-bank and returned  to his  office when  two men  shot  and  killed  him.”

    “Based on  initial  findings,  one of the men  collared  Geertman and then  forced him down  on his  knees.

    As he knelt on the pavement, witnesses said, the  two men proceeded  to  shout invectives at him.

    Geertman was hard pleading for his life, but  one of  the  men  pulled  out  a gun  and  shot  him  on the right shoulder. The bullet entered his chest, almost killing  him instantly,” the PCPR report said.

    The resolution also urged  the  government to “immediately  act to resolved the extrajudicial killing of Geertman so that justice  may  be  served  to  his  family, colleagues  and  friends.”

    “The continuing  climate  of  impunity  in  the country  must  be stopped as the number of victims of extra-judicial killing escalates,” Mariano noted.

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