DOJ to reopen ‘cold’ cases of extrajudicial killings – Nation – GMA News Online – Latest Philippine News.

By LEILANI ADRIANO AND BOBBY LABALAN, VERA Files
(First of two parts)

In the chronicles of human rights violations, Judge Ariston Rubio is listed as one of the first victims of extrajudicial killings under the administration of Gloria Arroyo.

Almost a decade since he was slain in broad daylight by two unidentified gunmen on the Batac-Currimao road in Ilocos Norte on Oct. 31, 2001, Rubio’s murder remains unsolved.

Like Rubio, United Methodist pastor Isaias Sta. Rosa was also a victim of extrajudicial killings (EJKs), the 21st church worker killed during the Arroyo administration.

Taken from his home in Daraga, Albay by 10 hooded men in the evening of Aug. 3, 2006, Sta. Rosa was hogtied, beaten up and then dragged to a nearby creek where he was shot six times. His killers have never been punished.

In both cases, years of investigation ended in a blank wall, with police and prosecutors giving up either for lack of witnesses or insufficiency of evidence.

The Department of Justice, however, is set to wipe the dust off forgotten cases like these and reopen them, following a directive from President Benigno Aquino III to resolve and put closure to cases of human rights violations during Arroyo’s term.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima recently signed Department Order 848 creating a task force that will reopen cold case files on EJKs, torture and enforced disappearances.

“Those that didn’t even reach the investigation stage, are still under investigation by the police, by the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), other investigating agencies…we will address that issue,” said Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III who was designated head of the task force.

“I have sent several memoranda to our prosecutors in the field all over the country where there are pending preliminary investigations and pending court hearing involving human rights cases,” he added.

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