Statement of Pastor Berlin Guerrero
From: "adarna@gmail"
Sent: Saturday, June 2, 2007 9:22:25 AM
Subject: Statement of Pastor Berlin Guerrero
PRESS STATEMENT
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 that they tried to extract
from me by means of physical, mental and psychological torture and
projecting me in public as a "hand-gun 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 have just taken a tricycle from the local church which
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 pm, 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 man-handled and forcefully shoved inside the van, put a handcuff
on my hands behind me, covered my head with a cloth and packing tape,
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 could no longer breathe. I passed out
two times and urinated in 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, 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 replace 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, 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 Pantaleon
Garcia, Cavite Provincial Police Office (PPO).
Later on in the afternoon, that 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 which abducted me is an organized AFP unit which
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 which involves 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 in 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 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
May 30, 2007
Sent: Saturday, June 2, 2007 9:22:25 AM
Subject: Statement of Pastor Berlin Guerrero
PRESS STATEMENT
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 that they tried to extract
from me by means of physical, mental and psychological torture and
projecting me in public as a "hand-gun 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 have just taken a tricycle from the local church which
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 pm, 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 man-handled and forcefully shoved inside the van, put a handcuff
on my hands behind me, covered my head with a cloth and packing tape,
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 could no longer breathe. I passed out
two times and urinated in 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, 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 replace 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, 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 Pantaleon
Garcia, Cavite Provincial Police Office (PPO).
Later on in the afternoon, that 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 which abducted me is an organized AFP unit which
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 which involves 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 in 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 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
May 30, 2007
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