Family cries foul play in Pinoy's death among US troops

Gregan Cardeño, 33, must have felt so lucky when he was told he was to be an interpreter for US troops based in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur. Gregan, according to his family, was employed by Zamboanga del Sur-based Skylink Security & General Services as a security guard to be assigned to Camp Siongco, a big Philippine Army camp in Datu Odin Sinsuat town, Maguindanao province.

However, on February 1, his first day of work, he was brought instead by a US helicopter to Camp Ranao in Marawi City, the headquarters of the 103rd Brigade of the Philippine Army. He was assigned as an interpreter for US troops based there as part of the Joint Special Operations Task Force of the Philippines under the US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement. Two days later, his family received a call from SPO3 Ali Guibon Rangiris of the Philippine National Police in Marawi City, who informed them that Gregan committed suicide by hanging himself around midnight of February 2. The family suspected foul play and asked for an investigation. In a complaint filed before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Thursday March 11, Gregan’s family expressed doubts that he committed suicide. Based on conversations with him before he died, as well as wounds later found on his body and head, they suspected that he was abused and killed by US soldiers. Not an interpreter In an interview with GMANews.TV, the family recounted that in the morning of February 2, Gregan’s older sister Carivel received a message from him saying that he was not brought to Maguindanao but to Marawi. Carivel called him, and heard his weeping brother tell him a worrisome tale—that he was not doing an interpreter’s work, and that “those with me are all Americans." She asked what he was being made to do. Gregan, in between sobs, said, “What they are asking me to do is very difficult." But he did not give details. Gregan asked his sister to call Skylink, his original employer, and ask them to release his salary and pull him out of the site. “If I do not get out of here, this could be the cause of my death," Carivel quoted him as saying. On the same day, Gregan’s wife Myrna said, he called and told her, “If I ever go home, would you still accept me?" She asked Gregan if he did anything wrong, but the line was cut. Family members repeatedly tried to contact him, inquiring about his condition. There was one last message they received from his cell phone, which said he was fine. Then the police told them he was dead. ‘The US soldiers made him a pet’ The family requested the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Zamboanga City to do an autopsy on his body, believing he could not have committed suicide as they described him to be a devout Christian. “He was a religious person. He knew that committing suicide is a sin. We do not have any problems," Myrna said. Gregan was a Christian pastor, his sister Grace added. The NBI autopsy report released on March 4 indicated there were five deep and burnt puncture wounds on Gregan’s feet, on the left inner part of both legs and on the upper right arm. Ali Bayla Indayla, secretary-general of the Mindanao-based human rights group Kawagib from which Gregan’s family sought help, however said the autopsy did not state other injuries that the family earlier noted when they saw Gregan’s cadaver at a Zamboanga City funeral home. These included Gregan’s enlarged scrotum, the enlarged opening of his anus, a deep wound on the upper right part of his neck, and three injuries on his head. “They [US soldiers] made him a pet. They probably played with him," Grace said. With some hesitation, she added that Gregan could have been “sexually abused and tortured". The family and various human rights groups are also accusing the US soldiers, and the Philippine police and military of conspiring to make it appear that Gregan committed suicide by not preserving pieces of evidence in Gregan’s room where he allegedly committed suicide. A fact-finding mission was formed to include Gregan’s family, concerned groups and the CHR in Iligan City. On March 2, the mission visited Camp Ranao in Marawi but was not allowed to enter the room where Gregan was supposedly found dead, Indayla said. The group also found out that the local police did not take pictures of him while he was still hanging. Neither did they preserve the blanket that he reportedly used. Indayla said that Gregan’s cellular phone, which SPO3 Rangiris of the Marawi police used to contact Gregan’s family to report about his death, had also been tampered with; messages, the phone directory, call registers, and photos have all been erased. Karapatan secretary general Lovella de Castro said they believe Gregan was a victim of a “heinous crime." The CHR is set to do another autopsy on Gregan’s body tentatively on the last week of March. PNP, AFP insist it was a suicide In a separate phone interview with GMANews.TV, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said they are open to the CHR’s investigation. “That’s alright; we welcome that," Brawner said, adding that the preliminary investigation made by the regional NBI indicate Gregan killed himself as evidenced as well by the reported suicide note he left. The note, written on a bluebook, read “Please God forgive me. Save my soul." Gregan’s family, however, insist it was not his handwriting. Lanao del Sur provincial police chief Senior Supt. Pañares Adap also insisted that Gregan committed suicide based on their investigation, but added they are conducting another probe in light of the family’s allegations. “Tuloy ang investigation, lalo na ang immediate family ay in doubt (We’ll pursue the investigation, especially because his immediate family is in doubt)," Adap said, but refused to say when the results of the new investigation will be available. Meanwhile, Col. Felix Castro, deputy commander of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade based in Camp Ranao, refused to comment, saying he has not personally seen Gregan’s corpse and that they cannot do anything right now except wait for developments on the case. For its part, Skylink legal counsel Homer Mabile said they will await formal notification of the complaint, but maintained that Gregan indeed committed suicide. “This is very tragic but we would not want the issue to be blown up when it has no basis in the first place. We are baffled by the investigation," he said in another phone interview. Mabile said the agency has extended the family financial assistance amounting to about P80,000 to cover Gregan’s burial, among others. Repeated calls to Capt. Mike Kaye, team leader of the US soldiers stationed in Camp Ranao, meanwhile went unanswered. Castro could not say when the US barracks inside Camp Ranao were established. He estimated there are about 10 US soldiers inside the camp on average, but the numbers could change as US troops are free to come in and out of the camp. “Most of (the US soldiers) are naval engineers repairing classrooms, constructing water ducts and engaging in medical civic action," he said. ‘Another case against VFA’ As this developed, the family has likewise expressed fears of whitewash especially as they hold US soldiers accountable for the death of Gregan, who left behind three children the youngest of whom is three years old. “We call on our government to give attention to this incident, as this involves the death of a Filipino under the employ of US forces, inside the barracks of the foreign troops and within a Philippine military camp," Karapatan’s de Castro said. Indayla added they will ask the Philippine Congress and Senate to conduct an independent investigation on the incident. “We should have access to the US barracks inside the Philippine territory," Indayla said. “Given this new incident, the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) must be reviewed all the more. If the VFA will not be abolished, how many more Gregans will have to suffer?" Indayla added. The VFA, signed by the Philippines and the US in 1998, allows visits by US armed forces in the country in the interest of “international and regional security". Various groups, however, have long been calling for the abolition of the treaty, which they describe to be unfairly to the US’ advantage as it violates the sovereignty of the Philippines. Under the agreement, US personnel who violate Philippine laws, including those accused of non-bailable heinous crimes, could be placed in the custody of US authorities even while under trial in a Philippine court by virtue of extraterritorial privileges. Philippine courts are also given only a year to finish the proceedings of a case involving a US soldier. Brawner, however, said the VFA has pertinent provisions should a US soldier be formally charged for Gregan’s death. “(The case) will not affect the Balikatan (joint military) exercises. It will not affect the US-Philippines relations," he added.—JV, GMANews.TV