6 Farmers Nabbed After Army-NPA Clash Cry Torture

A recent encounter between Army soldiers and NPA guerrillas in Sipalay, southern Negros Occidental led to the arrest of six suspects. Two of those captured said they were all forced to undress before being hogtied and tortured to admit their involvement in the encounter which left one soldier dead.

By Karl G. Ombion
Bulatlat.com/Cobra-Ans

Arcadena family reportedly victimized by 61st Infantry Battalion in Sipalay

It’s the Philippine Army’s word against the kin of suspected leftist guerrillas in what is now shaping up as a war of credibility.

The wives and family members of four suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas captured by the military this week accused government troopers of torturing and forcing their captives to admit their involvement in the NPA-Army clash last Nov. 11.

The encounter in Barangay (village) Manlocahoc, Sipalay, Negros Occidental left one soldier dead and another wounded. Killed was Cpl. Angras Mosqueda while Pfc Allan Cahuya was injured. Both were members of the Army’s Scout Ranger Regiment.

Negros Occidental, a province known for its centuries-old sugar plantations, is in central Philippines.

Moises Arcadena, 62, his sons Moreto, 37, and grandson Sammy, 17, sought the help of the Social Action Center of the diocese of Kabankalan and Karapatan and narrated what they said were the horrors they suffered under the hands of the military.

Both the elder Arcadena and Moreto were captured Nov. 15 and accused of being NPA guerrillas. They were later released.

Moises Arcadena appealed to military authorities to release his two other sons, Eddie, 28, and Ely, 19, who were arrested and are being held by the military. With them are two other suspects, Marcelito dela Cruz Romano and Demetrio Bitongga. The four other suspects’ whereabouts could not be placed at this writing.

Hogtied and tortured

Moreto said he and the other suspects including his father were forced to undress before being “hogtied, tortured and forced to admit that we were NPAs” despite their denials. To stop the unbearable torture, he said, they were forced to admit they were guerrillas.

Moreto also said although he could not recall the names of the soldiers allegedly responsible for their arrest and torture, he could identify them in person.

The elderly Arcadena, on the other hand, said that while hogtied, soldiers hit him with M16 rifles and wooden sticks and searing butt of sardines can was inflicted all over his body as well as on Moreto. The latter showed a deep cut inflicted by an Army knife.

Reports also said Romano and Bitongga suffered the same fate and were forced by the soldiers to guide them for two days as they trailed other NPA guerrillas.

Medico-legal exams revealed that the victims showed signs of torture based on their bruises and scars.

The Arcadena family also slammed the military and the police for their failure to file charges against their alleged torturers while the other NPA suspects remain either missing or in detention for more than a week against their will.

“Where are my two sons?” Moises cried, saying that they have no idea of his sons’ whereabouts after the military denied them access to talk or even to see their relatives.

Earlier, Lt. Col. Jon Aying, commander of the 61^st IB, said that the four remaining suspects chose to remain under military custody for fear that alleged NPA guerrilla leader Virgilio Paragan aka Ka Hassan will get back at them for admitting their role in the Nov. 11 encounter.

Relatives of the NPA suspects, meanwhile, told human rights groups in a fact-finding mission how residents of Manlocahoc panicked when they heard exchange of gunshots lasting for about five minutes at around 7 a.m. on Nov. 11.

Half an hour later, more than 30 Army troopers swooped down on the house of the elder Arcadena in sitio Pulog, asking the family to serve them lunch and dinner.

In a related story, human rights and the militant alliance, Bayan, denounced the recent case of alleged military atrocity even as they called for a full investigation and prosecution of military officials. They also accused local executives of doing nothing to protect the rights of the victims and their families. Bulatlat.com/Cobra-Ans

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