DOJ recommends criminal raps vs 9 soldiers over deaths of botanist Leonard Co, 2 others

(Updated 2:28 p.m.) The Justice Department has recommended the filing of criminal charges against nine Philippine Army soldiers for the deaths of noted Filipino botanist Leonard Co and his two companions following a clash between government troops and suspected communist rebels in Leyte in November 2010. In a resolution, the Justice Department said charges of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide, attempted homicide should be filed against the soldiers.

 

 

In November last year, human rights advocates trooped to the DOJ office in Manila to demand that a resolution for the preliminary investigation being conducted by the agency be finally released.

 

"Every day that passes without any resolution to the case is another day of injustice to the families of the victims of the Kananga killings,” said Dr. Giovanni Tapang, convenor of the Justice for Leonard Co Movement.

 

“Bringing the perpetrators to justice is the least that can be done to compensate for the pain suffered by friends and families of the victims," he added.

 

The military had claimed that Co, Sofronio Cortez and Julius Borromeo were caught in a crossfire in Kananga town when an Army unit clashed with New People’s Army rebels on Nov. 15, 2010.

 

An independent investigation made by a group of scientists from the Advocates of Science and Technology for the People (Agham), however, belied the military's claim. Policarpio Balute, a farmer who served as guide for Co’s research team and who survived the incident, also contradicted the military’s version of the incident.

 

At the time of the incident, Co was conducting a research on tree species suitable for a forest restoration project by the private firm Energy Development Cooperation (EDC) called BINHI Program. The project aims to plant 10,000 hectares of endemic and endangered plants over the next 10 years.

 

According to Agham's observation report, gunshot wounds on Co's body showed that the military could have been on top of a hill when they fired toward the direction of the victims.

 

On October 11 last year, lawyer Evalyn Ursua, counsel for the Co family, filed with the DOJ a motion to resolve the case.

 

Asked at the time what was taking the case too long and what the DOJ was doing to expedite the case, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she had instructed Prosecutor General Claro Arellano to expedite the resolution of the case. — Mark Merueñas/RSJ/KBK, GMA News