This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 26, August 7-13, 2005
A Town of War Refugees
A sleepy town in Samar is
currently at the receiving end of intensified offensive military operations,
driving more than 2,000 people, including women and children, from their homes
and sources of livelihood. So alarming have the forced evacuations become that
the World Council of Churches has asked the military to pull out from the
region.
BY MAUREEN JAPZON TACLOBAN CITY – The town of
Basey in Samar, located 40 kms from this city, is known for its banig
(sleeping mat) made from a plant called tikog. If reporters were to visit
this place however they will likely call Basey as the town of war refugees. Col. Joel Cabides, brigade
commander of the 801st Brigade of the Philippine Army under Brig. Gen. Jovito
Palparan, recently admitted that there are ongoing military operations in Basey
which explains the bombings and intermittent firing of automatic rifles.
Helicopters also roam the area as soldiers and other men in dark clothes and
bonnets armed with M-16s conduct patrols. According to Diana Ragub,
information officer of Samahan han Gudti nga Parag-uma Sinirangan Bisayas (SAGUPA-SB,
a local people’s organization), more than 2,000 people including children from
365 families had taken refuge at the Basey municipal gymnasium from July 20 to
24 after fleeing their farms and homes due to military operations. The internal refugees came
from Basey’s five interior barangays (villages): Cogon (76 families), Bulao (115
families), New San Agustin (30 families), Cancaiyas (133 families) and Villa
Aurora (11 families). Basey Mayor Vicente Labuac
gave emergency food to the refugees. An Waray Party list and the Leyte Center
for Development Incorporated (LCDE) held a medical mission and gave relief goods
despite the military’s reported attempts to prevent them from doing so.
Police Regional Director
Dionesio Benito Coloma, who also heads the Regional Disaster Coordinating
Council (RDCC), called the displacement of peasants due to military operations
as a “man-made calamity.” He said that the RDCC will launch its own relief
mission “if the situation worsens.” Following a series of
meetings with local officials and the military, the farmers were allowed to
return to their villages. Local executives arranged the transportation of the
refugees back to their areas. Paquito Nacino, Commission
on Human Rights (CHR) regional director ordered an investigation into the mass
evacuation in Basey. Mass
evacuation as a trend Mass evacuation has become
the trend in Eastern Visayas since Feb. 10 when Palparan took over as commanding
general of the 8th Infantry Division, replacing Maj. Gen. Glenn Rabonza. Upon
assuming the post, Palparan told local reporters that insurgency in Eastern
Visayas will be over in six months (i.e., August 2005). Consequently, bodies of
unidentified people – apparently victims of extra-judicial executions - were
found in different places. Only a few of the bodies were identified and claimed
by relatives. According to KATUNGOD-SB, the number of human rights violations
during the same period increased to 457 cases, or about three cases per day.
International concern Alarmed by the events in
the region, an international Pastoral Ecumenical Delegation Visit was held in
Eastern Visayas from July 14-21. Heading the visit was a delegation from the
Europe-based World Council of Churches (WCC), the umbrella organization of 347
churches throughout the world. In a statement signed by
Clement John, spokesperson of Eastern Visayas team of the WCC, the delegates
stressed, “The ecumenical church movement stands firmly that violence and war
against the citizenry only perpetuates more violence and does not provide
resolution for the conflict.” The WCC also urged a troop
pullout: “We pray that the people’s fear will be alleviated through
de-militarization, that extra-judicial killings and interrogation, intimidation
and harassment will cease, and that the people of Eastern Visayas will enjoy
genuine freedom and peace, based on justice.” Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
WCC asks for troop pullout in Eastern
Visayas
Bulatlat