Suspect in Dutch slay posed as cop

GEERTMAN: 46 years of service to PH. PHOTO COURTESY OF CDRN/CDRC

MANILA, Philippines—A suspect in the July 3 killing of Dutch development worker Wilhelmus JJ Lutz Geertman posed as a policeman to gain entry into the subdivision in Angeles City, Pampanga province, where the victim’s office was located, a witness said on Friday.

Also Friday, the Dutch government urged Philippine officials to find the killers of Geertman, a Dutch citizen.

In a statement, Dutch Ambassador to the Philippines Robert Brinks said he was “shocked and saddened” by the murder of Geertman, and “conveyed his sympathy to those dear to him.”

Brinks said Geertman worked for many years with local development and humanitarian organizations. He said he sincerely hoped Philippine “authorities will hold those behind the killing accountable.”

“Human rights remain one of the important pillars of Dutch foreign policy,” Brinks said.

The embassy of The Netherlands, he said, has partnered with local human rights organizations, and supported dialogues with the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, law enforcement and human defenders.

“It is our hope that these projects will also contribute to addressing impunity,” Brinks said.

Geertman, 67, who worked for an antimalaria campaign, was shot dead in his office in L&S Subdivision, Barangay Santo Domingo, Angeles City, Pampanga, on Tuesday.

Police initially described the attack on Geertman as a robbery, as the gunmen took a bag of cash that he had just withdrawn from the bank.

But human rights organizations and the Roman Catholic Church claim that Geertman is a victim of extrajudicial killing, as he worked for the interest of peasants and indigenous peoples. He also opposed mining.

Witness’ account

In Angeles City on Friday, Wilfredo Cañete, a security guard at L&S Subdivision, told the Inquirer in an interview that he stopped a red Mitsubishi Lancer as it approached the subdivision gate because it had no sticker from the homeowners’ association.

Cañete said the car’s male driver told him in Filipino: “I am a policeman. May I pass?”

The driver did not show police identification, Cañete said. He said the car sped off before he could say anything.

Cañete said he saw two men in the car. He gave the same information to the police on Wednesday.

“I didn’t see their faces well,” he said in the statement he gave to the police.

Security-camera footage

Footage from a closed-circuit television camera that the homeowners’ association allowed the Inquirer to view showed that Geertman’s pickup entered through the main gate at 12:33 p.m. on Tuesday.

A red Mitsubishi Lancer with license plate No. TRS719 entered at 12:34 p.m.

Then a motorcycle emerged from Apo Road, just outside the gate, drove toward the gate then slipped to the right side of a tricycle that had just entered the subdivision.

That was how the motorcycle avoided inspection and notice, Cañete said.

The footage showed the motorcycle driver wore a helmet and a raincoat. Pictures of vehicles going out through the same gate showed the motorcycle, this time with three men on board, leaving at 12:36 p.m. The red Lancer followed at 12:37 p.m.

Unrecorded

What happened in that span of three minutes is not recorded, Lito Cura, vice president of the homeowners’ association said, because only a few houses along the main road, Rue de Paree, have security cameras.

Colleagues of Geertman in the nongovernmental organization Alay Bayan-Luson Inc. (ABI), a disaster response management group, received reports from neighbors that a red car had parked on Yakal Street at the same time Geertman’s driver parked the pickup inside the compound.

Car’s owner

The gunmen entered through the small door leading to the veranda where Geertman was shot.

Information ABI received also showed the red car was registered in the name of Concepcion Sanchez, whose listed address was 52 Main Avenue, Pacita Complex, Laguna province.

Police investigators recorded a case for robbery and homicide, saying that the money Geertman withdrew from a Metrobank branch in Angeles City—reportedly P1.2 million—was not found at the crime scene.

Some of Geertman’s colleagues reported seeing Geertman struggling with the gunman.

Military harassment

Also yesterday, officials of  Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and the human rights watchdog Karapatan said Geertman had “long been subjected to vilification and harassment by the military.”

A statement signed by Roman Polintan, chair of Bayan Central Luzon, and Sr. Cecil Ruiz, chair of Karapatan Central Luzon, said Geertman was among those maligned by the military at the height of the Arroyo government’s campaign against the communist insurgency in 2006 and 2007.

The statement said the Army’s 48th Infantry Battalion produced a “fake letter” that indicated Geertman was a ranking leader of the communist insurgency and was gathering support for the production and stockpiling of improvised explosive devices.

Geertman did not allow the attack on his reputation to hamper his work and he continued to work “with the masses of Aurora against destructive large-scale mining and logging in the province,” the statement said.

Premeditated

The two groups described the killing of Geertman as “premeditated and not just a case of robbery.”

The 48th IB had no immediate reaction to the two groups’ statement on Friday.

Geertman worked for more than 40 years in Aurora, helping farmers and indigenous peoples there.

In 2009, he became executive director of ABI. With a report from Tina G. Santos