This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 45, December
18-24, 2005
The
Philippine military has been using the Lumads in a village in Compostela Valley
Province as human shields as it pursues its campaign against the communist New
People’s Army.
By Marilou M. Aguirre NABOC, Compostela Valley
Province -
From Davao City, one has to travel for three hours to reach Monkayo town,
Compostela Valley province. Five kilometers from there, a small village called
Naboc sits right at the foot of Mount Diwata. The Lumads (indigenous
peoples) in Naboc are from the tribes of Ata Manobo and Ata Matigsalog who
depend on farming. With neither electricity nor potable water, the least they
aspire for is food on their table and peace in their community. They used to enjoy normal
lives in their humble haven
-
until some 50 soldiers from the 28th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP) arrived in mid-August. “We were frightened when
they came to our place,” said Nang Lolita, a resident who spoke on condition of
anonymity out of fear. “We even stopped our classes because they were staying
inside the school premises.” Nang Lolita, a Lumad, is
one of the three teachers in the daycare center, which is a project of a
nongovernment organization. The center serves as the only school for the
60-household barrio. She taught both children and women how to read, write and
count. She spoke to journalists and members of a recent fact-finding mission to
this village. Fearing for the children,
Nang Lolita opted to suspend the classes while the soldiers were in their
community. “We did not hold classes because we were afraid that an encounter
might happen while the children were here, God forbid,” she said. The Lumads feared that they
might get caught in the crossfire in the conflict between the military soldiers
and the communist New People’s Army (NPA), which has a strong presence in the
province. The soldiers did not just
stay at the daycare center. “They were everywhere. Some stayed at the lowland,
others at the big houses,” Nang Lolita said. “They went from one house to
another and took what they called was a census. They asked for the residents’
names. They also took pictures of the residents.” During the soldiers’ stay,
a man who identified himself as Sgt. Gener called for a town meeting. The
peasants, who could hardly read, did not recognize the soldiers since the latter
did not wear nameplates during their military operations. In the meeting, the
soldiers said they would issue safe-conduct passes to the residents for security
purpose. The pass was meant to protect the bearer; any one who has it means he
had been cleared of any involvement with the NPA, the soldiers said. The soldiers also asked
about the presence of the NPA in the area. They also asked the extent of the
Lumads’ involvement in the underground movement. “They will call you an ‘NPA
supporter’ even if you only give either water or food,” recalled Nang Lolita.
They were told not to support the Communists. Nang Lolita said that, with their
dire conditions, it was impossible for the villagers to support or give food to
the communist rebels. During the meeting, one of
the residents told the soldiers that “we cannot just ignore them (NPA). What if
they asked for water, for instance? Of course we will give them water.” Nang
Lolita said that water is the most that they can offer the communist rebels. The soldiers said those who
give water or food to the NPA are already involved in the underground movement.
They also said that there were residents in the area who were holding certain
positions in the NPA. When asked by a certain male resident if they had a list
of the said NPA members, the soldiers said they could not just show the list. It was not clear to the
Lumads why the soldiers had to photograph them or issue them the safe-conduct
pass. Nang Lolita and her husband did not submit to the soldiers’ orders,
believing that it was unreasonable. But those who feared for
their own and their families’ lives said they had no choice but to submit to the
soldiers’ demands. According to the report of
the human rights’ group Karapatan, residents of Mangayon, Compostela, Compostela
Valley Province, suffered the same fate as the Naboc residents. But the Mangayon residents
had it worse because some 50 residents were ordered by the soldiers from the
28th IB to report to the Barangay Health Center, which had been the soldiers’
temporary camp. The soldiers took their names, investigated them and took
pictures of them holding a placard that read “I am an NPA supporter.” Karapatan said the incident
was a clear violation of the rights of the civilians wherein they were forced to
surrender, which is an act of coercion. The group added that the residents in
Mangayon suffered trauma. The rights’ group also
recorded a number of human rights violations perpetrated by the elements of the
67th IB and 60th IB in the different areas of Compostela Valley Province. Among
the violations recorded were fake or forced surrender, grave threats, physical
assault, torture and political repression. The 28th IB is one of the
AFP units that adopted the Re-engineered Special Operations Team (RSOT) in line
with the government’s counter-insurgency program. In RSOT, soldiers occupy
public facilities and use these as camps for their operations. They also
deposit weapons and ammunitions in populated areas. Though the Lumads in Naboc
said that the soldiers did not inflict physical harm on them, their mere
presence caused the villagers apprehension and terror. They were in constant
fear that the AFP soldiers might come across Communist rebels and they, the
Lumads, might become “human shields.” The Philippine government
has intensified its campaign against the CPP-NPA after it was branded as a
foreign terrorist organization by the United States government. After the
collapse of the peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the
Philippines (GRP) and the CPP’s political wing, the National Democratic Front of
the Philippines (NDFP), military operations in the hinterlands intensified.
But the government’s
counter-insurgency program has taken its toll on the poor civilians, even those
who only fight for their ancestral lands. According to the residents in Naboc,
their tribal leader, Datu Dyanggo, was put in the most wanted list of the AFP
for defending such right. They believe that the
soldiers are continuously harassing them to allow multinational companies to get
into there ancestral lands for large-scale mining operations and banana
expansion project. The military has always
maintained that the New People’s Army is the one terrorizing villagers in the
hinterlands of Southern Mindanao. It has also accused villagers in the past of
protecting the communists, particularly during military operations. (With
reports from Grace Uddin and Barry Ohaylan) davaotoday.com/Posted by Bulatlat © 2005 Bulatlat
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In the Line of Fire
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