PRESS STATEMENT

Berlin V. Guerrero
Pastor, United Church of Christ in the Philippines
May 30, 2007

What does it take a government to have the nerve to abduct, torture, and terrorize my family on the basis of an old inciting to sedition case and a baseless murder charge?

Far more absurd is the accusation that I am the Secretary of the CPP Provincial Committee in Cavite.  This lie they tried to extract from me by means of physical, mental and psychological torture and projecting me in public as a “handgun and grenade carrying rebel.”

I am a pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and never participated in any killings, illegal or unlawful activities, or any common crime.

My family and I had just gotten on a tricycle from the local church thar I have served for two consecutive years (June 2006–2007, where we just celebrated UCCP’s and the local church’s 59th and 72nd anniversaries respectively. On May 27, at around 5:30 p.m., a white van cut the tricycle’s path and military-looking men quickly alighted to grab me, despite my plea that they show me the warrant they said they had.  I was manhandled and forcefully shoved inside the van, a handcuff was put on my hands behind me, my head was covered with a cloth and packing tape, and I was beaten, punched and kicked repeatedly.

They brought me to a place I didn’t know.  Here, still handcuffed, men would take turn interrogating and beating my head with their fists and blunt objects  (like a 1,000 ml mineral bottle and other objects).  All throughout, layers of plastic bags covered my head.  My torturers would tighten the bag until I can no longer breathe.  I passed out two times and urinated on my pants.

They made me shake my head for about an hour and beat me whenever I stopped they said they would do these things to my family if I did not cooperate.  I was forced to give names and addresses of my whole family, officers of church and conferences, the name of my administrator at Union Theological Seminary where I am studying theology, leaders of progressive labour and peasant organizations in Southern Tagalog.

They opened my computer by forcing me to give the password, got my e-mail password.  They erased all of my church, school and personal files and replaced it with documents that belong to the so-called underground left.

After about twelve hours, they put me back on the van still handcuffed and blindfolded.  They threatened to kill me, burn me or bury me.  They continued to beat me and make new names for me.  They got my sim card.

They called me “pastor-impostor.”  And lectured me on the  “evils” of communism and how the church and legal people’s organizations are “used” to create trouble by criticizing the government.

When the van stopped, it took an hour before they led me down, made me sit down and lie down.  After an hour, they removed my blindfold.  Here I learned I was in Imus, Cavite, specifically at Camp Pantaloon Garcia, Cavite Provincial Police Office (PPO).

Later on in the afternoon was the only time I saw the warrants of arrest and to what unit of the PNP I was turned over to by my abductors.

Now that I have the time to collect my thoughts and view my situation inside what police offices call a "subhuman” cell, let me make a preliminary analysis of my unfinished ordeal.

1. The unit that abducted me is an organized AFP unit that operates covertly or below the law.  It is composed of elements coming from different units of AFP’s Intelligence Community.  As a counter-insurgency unit, it uses ex-NPAs.  They are lawless enforcers.
2. Making use of court cases that involve suspected personalities of the left, no matter how weak, these cases may be served and used to make the arrest legitimate.  In my case, I am implicated on a Murder Case in 1990.  Case files show that I do not have a direct or indirect link to the crime.
3. To bring me to the court by means of the arrest warrants is secondary. Their primary objective is to extract information from me by means of torture.
4. It is also meant to terrorize my family, my relatives, friends, church members and practically everyone I know and who know me.  It creates a thinking that this repeated attack on a person’s right, which may end in incarceration or death, can happen to anybody.

I am outraged by their branding me as a “pastor-impostor” because it is an affront to the sacred office I have sworn to serve God Almighty, who knows every heart and mind.

Finally, I hold the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo government responsible for the abduction and torture I have suffered and the subhuman captivity I am forced to accept.  The GMA Administration should listen to the repeated cries of the people to stop violation of human rights and the political killings.

They may have put me in jail, but my spirit is free and firm because God is with us always.

(SGD.) PASTOR BERLIN V. GUERRERO
United Church of Christ in the Philippines

Inside the Camp Pantaleon Garcia
Cavite Provincial Police Office
Imus, Cavite

———
Some Information Update on Pastor Berlin Guerrero
From his brother, Rev. Ephraim V. Guerrero

1. Pastor Berlin V. Guerrero was abducted by armed men last May 27, 2007, Sunday, at around 5:30 p.m., after a despedida fellowship was given to him as he will be transferring to a new church assignment. He and his family (wife Mylene and three children) were on board a tricycle when the abduction took place. One of the abductors hit him in the nape and shoved him in a van. As the van sped away he was blindfolded and the men continued to kick and box him. In his press statement that has been widely circulated, he said he was tortured in various ways, including covering his head with plastic bag until he suffocated and lost consciousness. This happened twice.
2. The next day, Monday, May 28, at 11:00 a.m., his abductors turned him over to the Police Provincial Office of Cavite of the Philippine National Police, and in the afternoon he was allowed to call his wife and was able to tell her where he was. Later in the evening he was able to see his family and the UCCP Quick Reaction Team that was sent to locate him. The team included Miss Rebecca Lawson, Rev. Rannieh Mercado and Bishop Gabriel Garol.
3. Tuesday, May 29, representatives from the Commission on Human Rights, which included a medico-legal doctor, interviewed him and the doctor conducted an examination. The Commission on Human rights is a constitutional body of the Philippine Government. In a report on their findings date May 31, two days after the examination, they conclude:

"The above physical injuries sustained by the subject is related to the ill-treatment dealt him. Because the subject was being forced to admit that he is the head of acertain COM.PROV or Comiteng Provincia ng Cavite while being detained against his will satisfies the criteria for torture as defined under the UN Convention Against torture."

The report was signed by Dr. Narciso Voltaire G. Maniquis Jr. Medico Legal Officer 1.

4. Documents indicate that a unit from the Philippine Navy called “Naval Intelligence Security Force-NCR” undertook the abduction, torture and interrogation. Prior to the abduction, Pastor Berlin was sent to the UCCP hospital, Visayas Community Medical Center, to undertake a six-week course on Clinical Pastoral Education in Cebu City. While he was away, a man mysteriously started attending worship services in Malaban UCCP church where Pastor Berlin was assigned. He said he was new in the community and was looking for a church to worship with, and that he came from Silliman University. Some pictures of this man was taken by Mylene. According to church members, when Pastor Berlin’s family left the church the man also disappeared, then the abduction took place, just a few meters from the church. Some members saw this man inside one of the vans. In the course of the abduction, one of the men grabbed the bag of Mylene which contained the camera. When the camera was returned, the memory card was missing.
5. On May 31 a dialogue initiated by the top officials of the Philippine National Police was held. In this dialogue, as shared by the Chief of the PNP General Oscar Calderon, it appeared that the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to know about Pastor Berlin’s abduction when a reporter asked her whether she knew about the abduction. The president was embarrassed and ordered an investigation. In addition the information was circulated to the media and the partner churches. (This perhaps was one of the reasons why Pastor Berlin was not killed nor made to disappear, and surfaced less than 24 hours after the abduction.)

In this dialogue, the police admitted that there were lapses in the implementation of the arrest warrants. These include the use of vehicles with no plate numbers, the arresting officers and the arresting unit not being identified, the use of force and torture,  no information given as to where the arrested would be brought, no mention about the right to remain silent or to call a lawyer. Media reports later said that the General apologized to the UCCP for the incident.

6. When Pastor Berlin was turned over to the police the next day and after the abductors had left was the only time they showed the warrants of arrest, the documents that would make the arrest lawful. One was a Warrant of Arrest for Inciting to Sedition issued in 1988. This was the same warrant that was used when Berlin was arrested on a May 1 Labor Day rally in 1988 when he was the Secretary General of the Bagon Alyansang Makabayan, a multi-sectoral organization of farmers, workers, women, youth, professionals, etc. He was detained, but he put up bail for his release. After that, nothing was heard of the case.
7. The other was a Warrant of Arrest for murder, issued by the Regional Trial Court No. 19 at Bacoor, Cavite. The murder was supposed to have taken place in 1991. The warrant of arrest was issued in 1993; however, it was only served in 2007, after 14 years, and 16 years after the murder. All through those years Pastor Berlin moved freely, nobody knew that there was such a case, and he was not put on a wanted list, etc.
8. How did he get there? Pastor Berlin remembers that sometime in 1993 he led a massive rally in Cavite and was arrested. He, together with other leaders of the mass action, were taken to a military camp and had their pictures taken as a group. The picture was shown to the supposed witness, a tricycle driver, which the killers used in the course of the killing.  Pastor Berlin’s picture was already marked X, and the witness pointed to the person marked X. (We have talked to one of the policemen who worked on the case and admitted that he participated in the fabrication of the case. However, whether he is willing to testify is another matter as policemen sometimes cover up each other’s wrongdoings.) Case records indicate that there was no preliminary investigation conducted, a serious violation of judicial proceedings.
9. A team of lawyers led by Atty. Emilio Capulong, Jr. is handling the case. A motion preliminary investigation was filed, the hearing held June 6. The judge ordered the prosecutor to reply within 5 days. However, the lawyers will file an amended motion, upgrading it to Motion to Quash the arrest warrant for the murder case. This is intended to have Pastor Berlin released immediately. Counter charge for the illegal arrest and torture will be filed later when he is released. Filing it while he is in detention might endanger him further.
10. From May 28 to June 7 Pastor Berlin was detained at Camp Pantaleon Garcia in Imus, Cavite. Although guarded tightly, he is allowed to receive visitors. On June 8 Pastor Berlin was transferred to the Bacoor Municipal Jail, which is supervised by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. The jail was built for 150 persons but present population is 445. Pastor Berlin is inmate no. 54 in cell no. 5. We appreciate the stream of church members who has visited him. Last June 9, Saturday, 4 seminarians from the Union Theological Seminary in Minnesota, led by Dr. Eli Fernandez, visited Pastor Berlin. For his security, he is allowed to have a companion inside the cell at night. During the day, he is allowed to stay out of the cell. Previously his brothers took turns in accompanying him. Now seminarians and other pastors are volunteering also.   
11. Pastor Berlin summarizes this abduction as follows:

• The unit that abducted me is an organized AFP unit that operates covertly or below the law. It is composed of elements coming from different units of AFP’s Intelligence Community.  As a counter-insurgency unit, it uses ex-NPAs.  They are lawless enforcers.
• Making use of court cases that involve suspected personalities of the left, no matter how weak, these cases may be served and used to make the arrest legitimate.  In my case, I am implicated on a Murder Case in 1990.  Case files show that I do not have a direct or indirect link to the crime.
• To bring me to the court by means of the arrest warrants is secondary. Their primary objective is to extract information from me by means of torture.
• It is also meant to terrorize my family, my relatives, friends, church members and practically everyone I know and who know me.  It creates a thinking that this repeated attack on a person’s right, which may end in incarceration or death, can happen to anybody.

By: Rev. Ephraim V. Guerrero
Brother of Berlin