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Rebel suspect also cries police torture

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Several policemen in Pampanga province used torture to extract information from a suspected communist rebel leader, a court document showed.

In a six-page affidavit submitted in special proceedings for a writ of amparo before the San Fernando Regional Trial Court here on Friday, Lenin Salas said he was abused by policemen while he was under arrest for 18 hours.

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), which represents police and military officials in the case, has yet to issue its reply to the allegation.

Salas, 29, said armed men wearing combat uniforms and who arrived on police cars began manhandling him and his four companions shortly after they were arrested here on Aug. 3.

In the car, a man in uniform and another in civilian clothes took turns hitting him while he was being driven to the Pampanga police camp.

He said Supt. Madzgani Mukaram, head of the Provincial Public Safety Command, cursed him when he saw him at the headquarters.

Musician not rebel

In previous interviews, Mukaram said the five men—Salas, Daniel Navarro Jose Gomez, Jerry Simbulan and Rodwin Tala—suffered wounds, cuts and bruises during an encounter with government troops in Mexico town in July.

Salas denied he was the “Ka Lara” referred to in a document submitted by the OSG through lawyer Emmanuel Caluyo. On the witness stand, he said he was a musician.

Chief Supt. Alan Purisima, Central Luzon police director, has ordered an investigation of the alleged torture brought to his attention by Archbishop Paciano Aniceto.

In the affidavit, Salas said he was hit with a stick on his feet, legs, hands and back. He was also punched in the head, forehead, nape, belly and back. His captors also poked his body with the tip of their rifles.

Kicked and burned

“As if these weren’t enough, they kicked my penis many times,” Salas said.

His captors, he said, burned his nape with cigarette butts and set his hair on fire. He said a man tied an electric wire around his neck while another struck and kicked him.

“When I asked for water, they gave me a glass but I realized it had urine,” Salas said.

He said his captors covered his face with a plastic bag, removing it only when he gasped for breath to force him to admit he was the leader of the Rebolusyonaryong Hukbong Bayan in Pampanga.

“They took my rubber slippers, forced these into my mouth and forced me to chew and eat them,” Salas said

The torture, he said, included psychological threats. They warned they would kill his wife and son.

By Tonette Orejas
Central Luzon Desk

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