official statement of the O. Carm. of Escalante City

The official statement of the Carmelite Friars of the Our lady of Mount Carmel College
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August 15, 2011
STATEMENT ON THE NAPOLCOM RESOLUTION SUSPENDING THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND OPERATIONAL CONTROL OF MAYOR MELECIO YAP OVER THE POLICE STATION OF ESCALANTE CITY

Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed (Isaiah 56:1).

The Resolution for the suspension of the administrative and operational control of Mayor Melecio Yap of Escalante City, Negros Occidental by the NATIONAL POLICE COMMISSION is indeed doing a gross injustice to the people of Escalante when it arbitrarily stripped Mayor Melecio Yap of his function as deputy of the NAPOLCOM to Escalante PNP station without giving him the benefit of an impartial and objective investigation upon arriving at a sound and credible resolution.

The action smacks with shame because it did not merit a full blown investigation. P/Supt. Querol used the Northern Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (NNAHRA) and the communist issue to harass the mayor. But did the Investigating team or P/Supt. Querol bother to ask the church in Escalante to ferret out the truth? We do not know whether the NAPOLCOM and the supposed investigating team is aware that NNAHRA has a Carmelite priest as a chair, in the person of Fr. Gilbert Billena.

Further, NNHRA is also allied with the JPIC or Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation wherein Fr. Gilbert is also the National Convenor. It is linked also with the different religious congregations and also with the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP). If P/Supt.Querol, as stated in his report, is claiming that the NNAHRA is a communist group, thus, are they also claiming that Fr Billena, the JPIC National Convenor is likewise a communist?

If P/Supt.Querol sees red on NNAHRA, does it also follow that Mayor Melecio Yap has to be punished because he is supportive of its cause, especially in pursuing truth and justice? It is a known fact that Mayor Yap is very close to the peasants in Escalante. Does this mean that being supportive to the sector is aiding the communist?

It is demoralizing and disappointing to note how a general and gentleman, at that, would tend to forget the essential rights of an individual which manifest a free and democratic society – the very system that the National Police Commission and all police officers are bound to protect and uphold.

The NPA has already claimed responsibility to the extrajudicial killings to those who have blood-debts in Escalante. However, the losing politicians are using the hysteria to malign their political rivals through internet platforms like facebook and other social networking sites including print and broadcast media. Did the NAPOLCOM include this in the investigation?

Were the Human Rights group asked about these malicious allegations? Or for the benefit of having a thorough inquiry, the two parishes administered by the Carmelite Order who are evidently living witnesses of the true and real events in the city? Querol seems not mindful that the Carmelite has been serving Escalante for almost 50 years now.

We, the Carmelite Friars in Escalante City strongly condemned the NAPOLCOM Resolution. We see this as unfair and unjust. We are alarmed that by the act of tagging NNAHRA as a communist group, it consequently endanger the very life and security of our brother priest, Gilbert Billena, the Chairperson as well as Bernardino “Toto” Patigas, the Secretary General.

We also believed that the haste to punish Mayor Melecio Beboy Yap did not go through due process as mandated by our laws and constitution. The groundless, malicious accusation hurled against Mayor Beboy and NNAHRA is a grand design to destroy and put down the administration of Mayor Melecio Beboy Yap and also to stifle the NNAHRA’s advocacy for Justice and Human Rights.

ISSUED BY:

FR. JERRY SABADO, O. CARM
Parish Priest, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish
Escalante City, Negros Occidental


FR. GILBERT BILLENA, O. CARM.
Parish Priest, Saint Francis of Asissi Parish
Old Poblacion, Escalante City, Negros Occidental


FR. GABRIEL DOLOTINA, O. CARM. D.M.EM.
Dean of Collage, Mount Carmel Collage
Escalante City, Negros Occidental


FR. HARRY BLOEM, O. CARM.
PRIOR- Carmelite Community ( Escalante)
Balintawak, Escalante City, Negros Occidental