This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com).
Vol. VI, No. 20, June 25-July 1, 2006
The government’s all-out campaign against the New People’s Army (NPA) ends up affecting civilians who are now at the receiving end of military abuses.
BY BULATLAT
Victims and relatives of human rights abuses called for a stop to the killings and disappearances as they decry that the government’s all-out anti-communist campaign takes a worsening toll on civilians.
“NPA po ba ang pinapaslang ng militar? Hindi, kundi mga magsasaka, mga manggagawa, mga lider aktibista sa baryo,” (Is the military killing New People’s Army rebels? No, they are killing peasants, workers and activist leaders in the villages.) said Josie Javier, spokesperson of Mothers and Relatives of Martyrs (MARTYR). Javier’s husband Armando Jr., was slain by suspected soldiers of the 71st Infantry Battalion.
In a gathering in Quezon City last June 24, Javier and other relatives of political killings and abduction spoke with heavy hearts about their ordeal in pursuing justice, as they expressed fear that the abuses under Arroyo will even worsen. The gathering was attended by mostly women relatives, with some relating how they witnessed their son or husband being killed.
Jigs Clamor, national secretary general of Karapatan (a human rights organization), said officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are again tagging even human rights organizations as communist fronts, making them also targets of the military campaign.
Clamor said that under the Arroyo administration, there are 690 victims of political killings, with three victims killed every week. The desaparecidos, or those who were abducted and missing have reached 178, the latest being Rudy Calubad and his son Gabriel who were abducted in Calauag, Quezon last June 17.
Dorris Cuario, secretary general of the Karapatan chapter in Southern Tagalog, said that they need to assert the people’s rights even more, as the President had identified their region as “priority areas” under the anti-communist campaign, along with the Central Luzon and Bicol regions.
Cuario noted that the redeployed government troops from Mindanao arrived in Quezon last June 23 for a six-month long military operation.
“Ang isang bilyong piso ay nakatuon daw sa NPA, pero ang totoo, mga magsasaka ang tinatakot, pinapatay, at hindi makapaghanapbuhay,“ (The P1 billion [$18.78 million, based on an exchange rate of P53.26 per US dollar] fund is supposed to target NPAs, but in reality, it is the peasants who are being harassed, killed and prevented from making a living.) said Cuario.
In Lopez town, Quezon province (219 kms south of Manila), three minors were charged by the soldiers of the 76th Infantry Battalion with rebellion, murder and frustrated murder. The three youths, all aged 15, were making copra in the mountainous village of Guinyangan when they were chanced upon by soldiers pursuing NPA rebels.
The soldiers accused the three of being with the rebels and ordered them to load the body of a slain soldier on the youths’ carabao-pulled cart. The three were then forced to carry the soldiers’ backpacks and a generator from the mountain to the highway.
The three minors were brought to the soldiers‘camp in Espina village along with Herpet Imperial, 19, also of Guinyangan, and two other men, Nonilon Paro, 45, of Pisipis village, and Fernando Torres, 43 of Espina village. The minors were released to their parents’ custody, while the others were still under detention.
Elizabeth Calubad of Caluag, Quezon, narrated how she searched for her missing husband, Rudy, 53 and her son Gabriel, 29. Calubad quoted a witness who said that the two were on a motorcycle on their way to Bangkuruhan village when they were blocked by soldiers on a van. The soldiers handcuffed the elder Calubad and forced him in the van, while another rode with the younger Calubad on the motorcycle.
Calubad cried as she spoke how she vainly searched for her husband and son in police and military camps. “Masakit, alam n’yo kayong mga biktimang nandito, pero sinisikap kong magpakatatag,” (It hurts, you know being victims, too, but I try to be strong.) she said.
Calubad said Gabriel has a child who is now asking where he is.
The meeting of victims’ relatives was the third in three months, an effort by the relatives and human rights advocates to regularly gather together to find strength from their common tragedies. Bulatlat
© 2006 Bulatlat ■ Alipato Media Center
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