HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
PhilHealth
Exec Says
Soldiers Harassed Him After NPA PoW Release
Two
soldiers from the 69th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine
Army paid Philhealth vice-president for Central Luzon Tito Mendiola a
visit and interrogated him about his role in the release of T/Sgt. Maron
Oronan, prisoner-of-war of the New People’s Army (NPA) released on Jan.
10.
BY
DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat
DOLORES, Pampanga –
Philhealth vice president for Central Luzon Tito Mendiola cried foul over
what he said was “a pure and simple harassment” by two soldiers who
interrogated him in his office at the second floor of the regional
Philhealth office in Barangay St. Jude, this town early morning of Jan.
12.
Mendiola, a former mayor of
Floridablaca, Pampanga, said the two soldiers introduced themselves as
intelligence officers and asked him about his role as a third party
facilitator for the release of T/Sgt Maron Oronan.
Mendiola said the soldiers
specifically asked him if Oronan was together with another New People's
Army (NPA) prisoner of war (PoW), Philippine Air Force (PAF) Maj. Neptune
Eliquin who was captured by the guerrilla army in July 2005.
National Democratic Front –
Central Luzon (NDF-CL) chairperson Felix Guillermo said in a statement
that Eliquin remains a PoW and called for a suspension of military
operations (SOMO) as a prerequisite to the release of the PAF officer.
Mendiola added that the
soldiers wanted to get his mobile phone number but he refused.
The captive
A member of the Philippine
Marines, Oronan was captured by NPA guerrillas last Nov. 23 while visiting
his family in Guagua, same province. He is assigned in Mindanao, southern
Philippines.
Reports said Oronan was
mistaken for an intelligence officer by the guerrillas.
Oronan was officially
released to Mendiola and Msgr. Paciano Aniceto, Archbishop of San
Fernando, Pampanga midnight of Jan. 10 in an abandoned hut in an
undisclosed place in Pampanga, according to the Philhealth executive.
No rescue
After signing his release
papers, Oronan, together with Mendiola and Aniceto, was brought to the
Mother of Good Counsel Seminary in San Fernando where he reunited with his
family, Mendiola said.
“Maayos naman ang
kalagayan ni Oronan nung pinalaya sya. May pasalubong pa siyang orchids sa
asawa nya” (Oronan was in good condition when released. He even
brought orchids for his wife), was how Mendiola described the orderly
release of the former NPA captive. A basketful of orchids and a back pack
was given as souvenir by the guerrillas to Oronan, Mendiola added.
In Oronan’s release papers,
the NDF-CL said: “While in captivity, his rights were respected and his
well-being looked after, in accordance with the Guide to Establishing a
People’s Revolutionary Government and as stipulated in the Comprehensive
Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).”
The CARHRIHL is a human
rights agreement forged between the government and the NDF in 1998.
After expressing gratitude to
the third party facilitators for his release, Mendiola said, Oronan asked
him and the bishop to join him in prayer.
The Philhealth officer belied
reports that the Marine sergeant was rescued by the military early morning
of Jan. 11 at the Ninoy Aquino Domestic Airport in Manila.
“Mamumukhang tanga naman ang
mga nasa airport kung makakapasok ang mga NPA dun”
(Airport officials would look stupid if the NPAs are able to get inside
the airport), Mendiola said.
“Ayaw nilang sabihin na
pinalaya kasi parang lumilitaw na hindi nila ginagawa ang trabaho nila
pagka ganun. Yung iba din baka naghahanap ng
promotion” (They don’t want
to say that he was released because it would seem they were not doing
their job. Others are probably looking for promotion), the Philhealth
officer added.
Mendiola said he wanted to
stay mum on the issue but he and the bishop were being made to appear as
if they were lying.
“Kung magmumukang sinungaling
kami ni Bishop hindi naman maganda yun kaya nagsalita na ako”
(It is not good if the bishop and I would seem like lying so I decided to
speak up).
Weeks before Oronan’s
release, Mendiola said the Sangguniang Bayan ng Pampanga petitioned for a
SOMO but the local government and the military did not heed the request.
Although wary of his safety,
Mendiola said he was glad he was able to help in Oronan’s safe release
despite the absence of SOMO declaration. Bulatlat
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