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Inside Philippine politics & beyond

A First in Philippine legal history: stories of torture victims land in Supreme Court records

August 31, 2016

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By Raïssa Robles

Supreme CourtI did not realize that the Supreme Court oral arguments were continuing right now, as I write this.

Below is the link to listen to the oral arguments.

Now, Trinidad Herrera is testifying. I was not able to interview Trinidad Herrera, but I was able to interview her accused torturer, Col. Eduardo (not Edgardo) Matillano. What Matillano told me, which he allowed me to record but not video, was very telling.

Herrera was recognized by no less than President Jimmy Carter’s wife, Rosalynn.  Mrs. Carter wrote a letter to Herrera.

♦  ♦  ♦

I took a break to eat, wash dishes and put up the wash, since it is a sunny day.

My God, I tuned in on the oral arguments just in time to hear Loretta Ann Rosales, former chair of the Human rights Commission narrate her torture.

It is the very, very first time that the Supreme Court is hearing en banc – and it is beaming the audio on livestream – the actual stories of torture victims.

I interviewed Rosales for the book Marcos Martial Law: Never Again.

She kept postponing my interview with her. Finally, when she allowed me to interview her, she did not want me to video her.

Today, she took the courage into her hands to talk about what she must have considered her shame – the rape in the hands of her military captors.

I feel like crying.

I also interviewed Hilda Narciso for the book. At first, she did not also want to talk to me. But finally, she relented.

I have a video of my interview with her.

 

 

Comments

  1. vwmdabbler says

    September 3, 2016 at 8:17 AM

    marcoses’ LNMB plan’s Unintended Consequence.Hooray!

  2. kalakala says

    September 2, 2016 at 4:40 PM

    O.T.
    A former staff of Senator Leila De Lima denied reports that she has P24 million in her bank account.
    Edna “Bogs” Obuyes, former clerk at the Department of Justice (DOJ), in her Facebook post said she was surprised that she was dragged in the controversy involving her former boss.

    She said she only learned of the bank account when she was summoned to the office of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

    “Masaya po akong pumasok sa akala kong pipirma po ako ng bagong contract pero laking gulat ko na ang inihain sa harapan ko ay (I was happy because I thought I would sign a new contract but I surprised that I was presented a) BDO bank receipt amounting to P24 million,” Obuyes said.
    Obuyes is a contractual employee at the DOJ. Her contract already ended in the middle of this year while Caranto already stopped showing for work at the DOJ.

    “Ang laman ng statement ko po ay puro pagtanggi na walang katotohanan ang lahat pero bakit ang lumalabas ay against Sen. De Lima na ang statement ko (My statement denies the allegations but why does it seem like). Please pray for me and for our Senator De Lima,” she said. RAM/rga

    Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/812139/de-limas-ex-staff-belies-existence-of-p24m-in-bank-account#ixzz4J5NkvhaS

    • Maxima says

      September 2, 2016 at 8:14 PM

      And a deposit slip shown was for a transaction on a Good Friday (April 18 2014) when banks were closed!

      • moonie says

        September 3, 2016 at 3:06 AM

        aba, ghost transaction pala. may multo sa bdo, gaya ng multong nagawa sa sri lankan bank heist to the tune of 80million dollars! different banks, same operandi.

        digong talaga is full of bad jokes. kung kakagatin mo ang bad jokes, e, na-scam ka, naging scam victim. this man let a lot of kaulolan early in his reign, he should not be allowed back in the country. let him stay with joma and jalandoni abroad, never to set foot home again. so, let us have coup while he is conveniently away, he, he, he. best time to spring one too. while the cat is away, the mice will play.

        already, digong is being so joke paranoid, he is marked for joke assassination kuno. dont let him be joke disappointed.

        • sam says

          September 3, 2016 at 8:58 AM

          @moonie

          then DU30 will say .. “can not not take a joke?”
          but i wonder what Panelo will say?

        • moonie says

          September 3, 2016 at 5:40 PM

          uhm, uhm, maybe, panelo will say, god is great?

        • kalakala says

          September 3, 2016 at 11:07 AM

          moonie, now the whole phil is under the “state of lawlessness” after the bombing of the world’s top 10 ( top 10 ba or really no.1 ang davao?) peaceful city.

        • moonie says

          September 3, 2016 at 5:37 PM

          dabaw (un)safest city kuno. and right under digong’s nose, pinasabugan. and now digong is not going to brunei kuno. nasubrahan ang knee jerk reaction, buong bayan na under state of lawlessness. well, the kapolisan started lawlessness with killing of drug suspects, and now, not to be left behind, dabawenyos took it upon itself, and maximize the killings. they’re not shy in dabaw, and dabawenyos prefer things grander, bigger, and more. . . explosive?

          sorry po, but moi is asking, the victims of dabaw blast, are they drug addicts, pushers, drug lords? sorry again, but I think, it’s my turn to say, god is great?

        • ICYMM says

          September 4, 2016 at 10:22 PM

          Jesus fucking Christ, people. Puno talaga ng bulbol utak ng mga followers niyo, Robles!

        • raissa says

          September 4, 2016 at 10:51 PM

          Last time you are posting here.

          I don’t allow anyone to curse me on my blog. Capisce?

    • duquemarino says

      September 5, 2016 at 6:26 AM

      @kalakala
      “Fruit of the poisonous tree”
      – evidence gathered with the assistance of illegally obtained information myst be excluded.

      Baka nga lahat fabricated.

    • Kit says

      September 15, 2016 at 1:33 PM

      Komo sentido. Pag ikaw may perang idedeposito, hindi mo ito ipag kakatiwala maski kanino, ikaw mismo mag dedeposito.

  3. Maxima says

    September 2, 2016 at 12:56 PM

    PILIT PA MORE!
    Kung ang Libingan ng mga Bayani ay hindi lang para sa mga bayani, na Ito ay pinaglilibingan din ng mga sundalo or even pangkaraniwang tao, bakit nila ipinagpupumilit na ilibing doon si Marcos with all the pomp and pageantry (on the taxpayers’dime) that one can imagine.

    Bakit Hindi nila ilibing sa Manila North Cemetery na may area din para sa mga militar at pulis. Meron ding ilang prominenteng tao tulad nila Arsenio Lacson (ha!), Fernando Poe Sr. and Jr., at iba pang mga bayani (Pio del Pilar, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Hidalgo, etc.)

    Because – (While they are now downplaying the libingan’s significance) they would like to, at some point, use the Libingan as a point of reference to support their claim that Marcos was a hero. It’s all a revisionist’s move.

    Ibinuro na nila ang bangkay at pinakahintay-hintay nila ang pagkakataon, nagbabakasali na mailibing sa LMB, because they see it with redeeming value to save their face and to be judged less harshly.

    Kung pinipilit na siya ay sundalo which entitles him to be buried at LMB, he should be deep sixed in North cemetery instead.

    Obviously, pinapahalagahan nila ang “Libingan ng bayani” title because of the connotation that it is the cemetery for heroes…and they want to ride on that opportunity.

    As to Mendoza’s reference, comparing the forgiveness for Japanese and Marcos–they are waaay different. The Japs asked for forgiveness, unlike the Marcoses who didn’t ask for forgiveness. Instead, they showed their thick skin and had the gumption to ask to be treated like a hero instead. The Japs provided funds as to alleviate the suffering of the victims.

    • Maxima says

      September 2, 2016 at 1:04 PM

      Sorry naputol-
      The Japs provided funds as acts of attrition for the victims, the Marcoses insulted the victims.

      • moonie says

        September 3, 2016 at 3:18 AM

        mendoza is such an edjet, comparing the japs with marcos. well, the japs never asked to be buried in libingan. likewise, how many nazis are buried in heroes cemetery?

        right after the war, the emperor of japan himself bowed to the world and humbly apologized. since then, pinas has accepted many aids from japan in terms of ships, money, building materials, we also have exchanges of ambassadors of goodwill. but the marcoses stayed put with no apology, no acknowledged of the hurt done to people. marcos was worst president sa pinas.

        besides, the japs is not the issue, the giving of hero’s burial of the traitor marcos is the issue, the issue that should be argued. and mendoza, being edjet, is muddling the issue.

« Older Comments
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist Then they came fof the Trade Unionists, and I did not out speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me— And there was no one left to speak for me. —Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)

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