Kuratong Baleleng

Kuratong Baleleng was an organized crime syndicate in the Philippines that once was an anti-communist, vigilante group.[2] Once the largest syndicate in the country, they received nationwide attention due to their alleged end in a shootout with the Philippine National Police in May 1995 in Quezon City. The syndicate has scattered its power through members garnering political positions since then.[3][4]

Kuratong Baleleng
Founded1986
Years active1986–unknown
TerritoryPhilippinesPhilippines
ActivitiesContract killing, Prostitution, fraud, drug trafficking, extortion, weapon trafficking, armed robbery, kidnapping, human trafficking and illegal gambling[1]

History

The group was originally established in 1986 by the Botanical Youth Club to prevent the spread of Communist guerrillas in Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur provinces on Mindanao. The group is rooted in the Christian Cebuano community, but ties to Maguindanao guerrillas led Muslim Maguindanaon clans to join. According to military intelligence, part of the group's strength is protection from both local and national government officials.

Its first leader was Octavio "Ongkoy" Parojinog, handpicked by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, He allegedly began using the group both for its officially stated purpose as well as to conduct illegal activities. While effective in driving out most of the insurgents from these three provinces, they engaged in illegal activities during peacetime despite the military ordered them to disband.[3] The syndicate has since been involved in kidnapping, robberies, drug trafficking, and other crimes,[4] eventually splintering into many smaller groups around the region.[3] Their activities expanded to include smuggling, kidnapping, murder, extortion, and illegal gambling.

1995 PACC murder case
See also: Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and Chel Diokno

In 1995, 11 members of Kuratong Baleleng were killed by the forces of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission, then led by Panfilo Lacson. Officers were prosecuted with the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), the largest human rights law firm, serving as the chief prosecutor in the case. In 2003, the High Tribunal remanded the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to once again indict Lacson and 33 other police officials. The trial court dismissed the criminal case for lack of probable cause.[5] The special prosecuting team of FLAG led by Jose Manuel Chel Diokno, responded and later asked the High Tribunal to remand the case once more to the trial court to present new evidence against Lacson, inter alia. On May 2, 2008, the Supreme Court of the Philippines approve Diokno's appeal, thereby reopening the case to prosecute implicated officers.

Modern day

The death of Ongkoy did not spell the end of the group. The lawmen responsible for his death, save for leader Colonel Gadapan, were murdered one by one.[3] Remnants of the Kuratong Baleleng has since spread out and rooted themselves throughout Mindanao and other provinces, in Manila, and in Cebu.[4] In April 2014, long-time Kuratong Baleleng fugitive Edgar Digamo was shot and killed by police after he began shooting at them in Lapu-Lapu City, after hiding for 13 years.[6]

Operations set during the Philippine Drug War had severely weakened the Kuratong Baleleng. Most of the Parojinogs were either killed or captured, starting with the 2017 Ozamiz Raid. In 2018, gang leaders Manuelito Estomata Francisco, Rizalina Francisco, and June Ozamiz Francisco, were captured by the Police Regional Office 1.[7] Efforts to revive the gang in Zamboanga del Sur were uncovered and halted, with then-President Rodrigo Duterte proclaiming, "There are police there in Zamboanga del Sur sort of reviving the Kuratong Baleleng…better shape up."[4]

Jinggoy Estrada starred in the 1995 film Wilson Sorronda Leader Kuratong Baleleng's Solid Group, depicting the life of soldier-turned Kuratong Baleleng leader Wilson Sorronda, and the events that led to the 1995 encounter that ended the group's criminal activities.[8]

In early 2014, the film Sa Ngalan ng Ama, Ina, at mga Anak, starring actor Robin Padilla, was released.[9]

The feature film Bamboo Dogs (2018) by Khavn De La Cruz is based on the Kuratong Baleleng massacre of 1995.[10]

References
  1. Muntarbhorn, Vitit (2013). Unity in Connectivity?: Evolving Human Rights Mechanisms in the ASEAN Region. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 27. ISBN 978-9004236547. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  2. Norman Dorsen, Nadine Strossen (1988). Lawyers under fire: attacks on human rights attorneys in the Philippines. Human Rights First. p. 24. ISBN 9781564320216. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  3. De Guzman, Nicai. "Most Wanted: Kuratong Baleleng Gang". Esquire Magazine. September 18, 2018
  4. "Shape up, Duterte warns those reviving 'Kuratong Baleleng'". Philippine News Agency. December 1, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  5. "SC upholds dismissal of Lacson's Kuratong Baleleng case". gmanetwork.com. December 4, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  6. "Kuratong Baleleng member killed in gunfight with cops". tempo.com.ph. April 26, 2015. Archived from the original on July 11, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  7. Austria, Hilda. "Cops tighten security on arrested 'Kuratong Baleleng' co-founder". Philippine News Agency. April 18, 2018
  8. "Wilson Sorronda: Leader Kuratong Baleleng's Solid Group". IMDb. August 16, 1995.
  9. "Dialogue with the showbiz Padillas". catanduanestribune.com. February 9, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  10. "Bamboo Dogs".
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