Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 277, March 1991

Case No 1529 (Philippines) - Complaint date: 29-MAR-90 - Closed

1. 292. By a communication dated 29 March 1990, the United Workers of the Philippines (UWP-KMU) presented a complaint of violations of trade union rights against the Government of the Philippines. The Government sent its observations on this case in a letter dated 18 December 1990.
2. 293. The Philippines have ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. The complainant's allegations

1. 294. In its communication of 29 March 1990, the UWP-KMU alleges that a UWP leader, Mariano Caspe, was shot at 7.30 p.m. on 18 March 1990 and died on 19 March in Butuan City in the region of Surigao del Sur. He was allegedly shot by members of the 28th Infantry Battalion who were at that time conducting tactical military operations in the region.
2. 295. According to the complainant, he was shot during a rally at which army members had harassed union members, shouting accusations that the UWP was a communist front. The rally concerned a certification election that the UWP was contesting with the United Lumber and General Workers of the Philippines Union (ULGWP) at the Lianga Bay Logging Company.

B. The Government's reply

1. 296. The Government, in a letter dated 18 December 1990, states that Mariano Caspe had worked in the Lianga Bay Logging Company from 1961 to 1964, as a machinist, and was re-employed on 2 May 1989 up to the time of his death on 20 March 1990. While the Company does not have any information whatsoever regarding the shooting incident that led to Mr. Caspe's death, his son - who was with him when the incident happened - narrated that his father was fatally shot when gunfire was sprayed on the jeepney (local taxi) they were riding on after attending a labour union rally in the evening of 18 March 1990. When asked if he saw or could identify who was responsible for the shooting, the son replied that he could not as it was very dark and that upon hearing the gunshots he sought cover. Mr. Pepe Diolola, Labour Relations Officer of KMU in Mindanao, and officer-in-charge of legal matters for the United Workers of the Philippines (UWP), an affiliate of the KMU, indicated that Mr. Caspe was an active campaigner of the UWP-KMU, which was challenging the ULGWP in a certification election to represent some 878 workers of the Lianga Bay Logging Company, Inc.
2. 297. On 18 March 1990, the UWP-KMU held a labour union rally in the municipality next to where the Company is located. It started at around 4.30 p.m. and ended at 8 p.m. While the rally was going on, a group of people, allegedly military men from the 28th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces, shouted "UWP-KMU are communists, do not believe them". These men were seen loitering around the rally area and were distributing leaflets and apparently campaigning for the ULGWP. When the rally ended the electricity was cut in the area. Since the rally members were feeling uncomfortable with the situation, they left on board a jeepney. As they were about to leave, Mr. Caspe alighted from the vehicle to look for his son; there was a series of gunshots and somebody shouted "throw the grenade". The vehicle immediately drove away, leaving Mr. Caspe behind, wounded.
3. 298. According to the Government, Mr. Diolola stressed that while he himself cannot identify the gunmen because he was inside the vehicle, there are witnesses who can identify the suspects despite the darkness. The Integrated National Police at Lianga, Surigao Sur, however, belied Mr. Diolola's claim that there were a number of witnesses who could identify the suspects. According to the officer-on-case, the police are having a difficult time identifying suspects due to the absence of witnesses.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 299. The Committee expresses its deep regret at the murder, following a union rally over a certification election, of the UWP leader, Mr. Mariano Caspe.
2. 300. It notes that, on the one hand, the complainant and a witness belonging to that union allege that military personnel active in the region were responsible for the shooting whereas, on the other hand, the Government reports that police investigations have not led to the identification of suspects because of an absence of witnesses to the crime.
3. 301. The Committee has always stressed that, when disorders have occurred involving loss of human life or serious injury, the setting up of an independent judicial inquiry by the government concerned is a particularly appropriate method of fully ascertaining the facts, determining responsibilities, punishing those responsible and preventing the repetition of such actions (see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 3rd edition, 1985, para. 78). Since it appears from the Government's reply that police investigations are under way - albeit with difficulty in identifying suspects - it requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of these investigations.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 302. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendation:
   • The Committee deeply regrets the murder, following a union rally, of the union leader Mr. Mariano Caspe and requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of the police investigations into this shooting, which allegedly took place at the hands of military personnel belonging to the 28th Infantry Battalion of the Philippines Armed Forces.