Colleagues of slain Dutch worker seek independent probe

Wilhelmus JJ Lutz Geertman FILE PHOTO

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—Colleagues and friends of Dutch development worker Wilhelmus JJ Lutz Geertman on Thursday sought an independent investigation into his killing on July 3 even as the police filed a case for robbery and homicide against at least five suspects.

Lorena Villareal, program coordinator of Alay Bayan-Luson Inc., a disaster response management group that Geertman headed, met the filing of the case with disbelief.

She said they asked the National Union of People’s Lawyers to “deepen the investigation to pursue the extrajudicial killing angle in his death.”

Sister Cecile Ruiz, secretary-general of the human rights watchdog Karapatan, said the case was not simply robbery with homicide. “It was a well-planned operation. Willem was the target,” Ruiz told the Inquirer.

Geertman, 67, had worked for over 40 years in the Philippines, mostly in Aurora among poor farmers and indigenous peoples. He had served as executive director of ABI since 2009.

Initial investigation by the police showed that Geertman was attacked after he arrived from a bank where he withdrew a still undisclosed amount of money. He had just walked into the ABI compound in an Angeles City subdivision when the gunman shot him and took his bag containing the money.

The ABI and bank officials in Angeles City disclosed the amount.

The San Fernando police filed the case for robbery and homicide before Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Ramon Tomas on July 16.

Police released a copy of the investigation data form to the Inquirer on Thursday but asked that the name of the first suspect, a 31-year-old man, be withheld as police pursue him.

The suspect’s four unidentified companions have yet to be arrested.

The first suspect was identified through a sketch that matched the features described by four witnesses, said Superintendent Luisito Magnaye, San Fernando police chief.

Magnaye said the description was matched with the images of two men taken by a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera installed at the main gate of the L&S Subdivision in Angeles City.

He said the first suspect was believed to have figured in the killing of a businessman in 2010 and could be part of a robbery gang operating in Central Luzon.

The prosecutor has issued a subpoena, which set Aug. 16 as date for the submission of counter-affidavit by the respondents.

“The robbers had several opportunities to get the cash. Why did they shoot [Geertman] inside the premises of his own office if not to warn his staff and the NGO he headed to stop their advocacy for the vulnerable sectors they serve?” Ruiz said.

Joseph Canlas, chair of ABI, condemned the police for “covering up the politically motivated case, which is an extrajudicial killing.”

“This is a maneuver by the police and the government so they can escape responsibility,” he said.

Geertman’s partner, Maria Aurora Santiago, said she is convinced that he was killed for opposing corporate mining and logging in Aurora while defending the rights of farmers and indigenous peoples to own lands.

“If the police think this is common case of robbery, why did policemen attempt to enter his house and do a search? What for?” said Maria Aurora Santiago.

“We are determined to file a case for extrajudicial killing,” she said.

Geertman was shot dead three days after his colleague, Romualdo Palispis, was murdered in Maria Aurora town in Aurora. Palispis is chair of the Justice and Peace Action Group (JPAG), which Geertman helped organize.

Before his death, Palispis led a campaign stopping the reduction of the land area of Maria Aurora town and the creation of a new town out of it.