Who killed Lito Glean?

Tonight new posters adorn the wall opposite the Shell station by the Buendia and Edsa.overpass. They are crudely done in black and red, as befits their message. One is a photo of the bullet-ridden corpse of a bald man and the message LITO GLEAN, the other the slogan WALANG ATRASAN (no retreat).

Lito Glean was the security chief of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, a major opposition politician. Last Saturday, 16 September, Glean was gunned down at a gas station in Fort Bonifacio, a high-end shopping and residential area in central Metro Manila. A security guard also died in the attack (the photo above is of his corpse).

There may be someone in Manila who believes that it was not the military that rubbed out Glean but I haven’t met them yet – I hope they keep taking the pills. (The military has floated the idea that Glean was actually the victim of a dispute over money, but that seems rather convenient to me.)

This murder may turn out not to signify much. After all, many would say that Mayor Binay himself is a bit of a goon and a goon’s goon is bound to have picked up a few enemies along the way. Until someone comes up with hard evidence one way or the other, we should not rule out any possibility.

On the other hand, Glean’s killing may be a watershed. The Philippines has become inured to political violence in recent years, but this seems to be of a different order.

• For a start, it took place in a prominent district of the capital city, near the international schools and many high-end residential buildings. As a Brit, I can clearly remember how, as long as the Catholics and Protestants were killing themselves in Belfast, not too many people on the mainland gave a monkey’s (as we say). But when pubs in Guildford and Birmingham exploded and Canary Wharf was attacked – well, that was rather a different story. By and large Manileños have been happy to turn a blind eye to the corpses piling up in the provinces -- now that dead men are also showing up at the local gas station that may change.

• The target was not a so-called “leftist” but someone close to a major opposition figure, a representative of the movement that elected the previous president.

• The killing of Glean followed, and was perhaps part of, a crackdown on opposition mayors in Metro Manila. Pasay Mayor Peewee Trinidad has recently been suspended for a corrupt garbage contract—an offense I would imagine he is guilty of—and Binay himself is currently facing charges of “grave abuse of authority and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service”.

• The “walang atrasan” poster I saw tonight may just have been bravado on the part of Mayor Binay. On the other hand, perhaps it was an indication that the opposition will not take this lying down. As the Philippine state evaporates before our eyes, there must be concerns that, as in other lawless parts of the world, we will soon be witness to a retributive and rough and ready system of justice that will leave many innocents, like the guard at the Shell station, in its wake.

I don’t know where all this killing is leading, I really don’t.

Finally, and just to make you feel really good, remember Noli Sugay, the hired goon of the president's ally, Manila Mayor Lito Atienza? A number of witnesses saw Sugay shoot and kill a jeepney driver in a parking altercation this July (see here, here, and here)? Well, according a radio broadcast this week, he is back working at City Hall. That’s just wonderful isn’t it?

Comments

[Jay-jay]

This is all the IMF/World Bank's fault! Oh yes, throw in Uncle Sam into the picture too! Because, you see, we Filipinos dont like to blame ourselves!

[Paeng]

It's obvious to anyone that the administration is going after the opposition Manila mayors. Since this murder took place during this witch hunt, suspicion is going fall on the administration and the military unless produce another explanation.

[Binay supporter]

Jejomar Binay was speaking before the slay of his expectation that he would be "suspended" from office at anytime, together with his vice mayor and the city council. Can the administration do this?

[torn]

Jay-jay -- That's an interesting angle, will mull that one over. Perhaps it was the a World Bank hitman as you say.

Paeng and Binay Supporter -- Thanks for your comments. In some ways the military/administration angle doesn't make sense though -- if they planned to get rid of Binay anyway, why kill Glean? But no doubt there are many angles to this that I have no idea about.

[daughter]

why kill glean? my father? SIMPLE. my father is the chief security of mayor binay, his close-in bodyguard. before going to the big fish, they need to get rid of the obstacles blocking their way to binay, and that big obstacle is my father. need i say more?

[torn]

I am very sorry that you lost your father in this terrible way. Your comment is a reminder of the family tragedies that lie behind the statistics.

I hope you don't think it is insensitive if I ask what you think of the military claim that his death was related to a dispute over money in the Guardian Brotherhood?

That doesn't sound a likely explanation to me, but I didn't know your father so I cannot judge. What are your feelings on this claim?

[daughter]

About the military claim regarding dispute over money in Guardians, that's a complete crap! The Guardians brotherhood had a press conference last week, during my father's wake, answering all claims regarding money dispute. But did you see that press conference in any news? I don't think so. why is that? i don't know too. What i do know, and I can stand on this claim, is that my father used his OWN money to support every project of Guardians Brotherhood Inc. I have a copy of the Guardian brotherhood manifesto, you may want to read this:

PAHAYAG NG MAKATI UNITED COMMAND
PHILIPPINE GUARDIANS BROTHERHOOD, INC.
September 20, 2006

Kamakailan lamang nagluksa at nagdalamhati ang pamunuan at miyembro ng Phil. Guardians Brotherhood Inc. – Makati Unified Command sa pagkamatay ng aming kasapi na si RMG Edel Pancipane, na walang awa at kalaban-laban na paslangin ng mga di kilalang tao. Ang Kapatiran ay nagtataka at nagugulumihan sapagkat noong mga panahon na iyon ay walang dahilan na dapat ikabit sa pagkakapaslang kay RMG Edel maliban na siya ay malapit kay Supremo Lito “DRAGON” Glean.

Marami ang nagsasabi at ito ay lubos na kapani-paniwala na ang “tingga” na tumapos sa buhay ni RMG Edel ay para pala sa aming mahal na Supremo Dragon. At para bang sadyang itinadhana, umaga ng Setyembre 16, 2006, isang bala ang tumapos sa buhay ni Supremo Dragon.

Maraming balita at haka-haka ang naglabasan sa mga pahayagan na isa sa mga dahilan ng pagkakapaslang kay Supremo Dragon ay perang diumano’y nadispalko. Kami sa Makati Unified Command ay nagkakaisang pinabubulaanan ang pinalulutang na alegasyon at intriga na ang tanging motibo ay itago at pagtakpan ang naganap na krimen.

Malaking kasinungalingan! Kailanman, kami sa Makati Unifid Command – PGBI ay hindi nag-away sa pera. Una, si Supremo Dragon ang siya pa ngang pangunahing tao na tumutulong sa mga proyekto ng GUARDIANS, mapasa-Makati man o sa iba pang lungsod. Ikalawa, bilang mga propesyonal at mga retiradong miyembro ng Hukbong Sandatahan ng Pilipinas, at lehitimong kasapi ng GUARDIANS ay nakatimo sa bawat puso namin ang tungkulin sa bayan ay higit kaysa pera na maaaring mawala sa isang iglap lamang.

Mayroon din lumalabas na haka-haka na ito ay “atraso” sapagkat kasama daw diumano si Supremo Dragon sa destabilisasyon. Layon naming ipinaa-alam na taliwas sa prinsipyo ng GUARDIANS ang pang-gugulo sa anumang paraan. Ang GUARDIANS ay taga-pangalaga at taga-pagtanggol ng kapayapaan. Amin din uulit-ulitin na minsan ay nanguna si Supremo Dragon sa pagsusugpo ng pag-gamit sa pinagbabawal na gamot. Ang kanyang proyekto na GUARDIANS AGAINST DRUGS na nalunsad ilang taon na ang nakalilipas ay pagpapatunay lamang ng kanyang tapat na layunin na linisin ang lipunan na kanyang kinatatayuan.

Hindi kaya ito ay isang pakana upang patahimikin ang nagdidilim nating lipunan dala ng maduming pulitika? Ano ang “TASK FORCE SPIDER” at “OPLAN PHOENIX?” Anong klaseng operasyon ito? Bakit kailangang isambit at isama ang samahang GUARDIANS dito, pati na rin ang aming mahal na Supremo?

Hinihiling namin ang isang patas at makatotohanang imbestigasyon at pagtrato sa kaso ni Supremo Lito! Kami na kanyang mga kapatid sa PGBI-MUC ay mahigpit na magbabantay para sa hustisya sa kanyang karumaldumal na kamatayan.

Mabuhay ka, Supremo Dragon! Mabuhay ang mga pagpapahalaga na iyong iniwan sa amin! Mabuhay ang GUARDIANS! Katarungan para kay Supremo Dragon!

As with that, I can now say that I have cleared my father's name regarding the military claim.

[guile]

god help us all..

[philippines classified ads]

Nothing new about this incident media killing in this country is increasing every year. The government should take an action for this.