Palace to watch Arroyo extra-judicial killings suit 'with interest' – Valte

Palace deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Aquino administration “will watch with interest" the P5.4-million damage suit a religious group filed to hold former president, now incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, accountable for alleged extra-judicial killings during her term. Valte clarified that the administration is not a party to the case and has no details yet on the damage suit. “Wala pa po kaming impormasyon, ang alam din po namin ay may nagsampa nga po ng kaso," she said. The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) asserted in its suit that five of its church members were executed and another was abducted from 2003 to 2006. UCCP general secretary and executive officer Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza said Arroyo is responsible because she was commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) when the alleged extra-judicial killings were committed. The UCCP petitioned the court to make Arroyo pay P4 million in moral damages, split into P1 million for UCCP and P3 million representing the P500,000 for each family of the six victims. The suit also seeks P500,000 for exemplary damages and litigation and attorney’s fees of P300,000 for each of the six victims. Another plaintiff, Pastor Berlin Guerrero, is also seeking P300,000 in moral damages for his alleged illegal arrest, detention and the torture he claimed to have suffered at the hands of government soldiers. The plaintiffs alleged that it was during the implementation of the counter-insurgency campaign dubbed “Oplan Bantay Laya" that many of their church members became victims of extra-judicial killings military personnel are suspected of having committed. The UCCP also said at least 22 of its members were either killed or suffered violent attacks from the military. — ELR/VS, GMA News