The people of the towns of Magallon and Isabela in Negros Occidental have been jittery since the weekend, when battle broke out between Army soldiers and men believed to be guerrillas of the New People’s Army (NPA).

BY KARL G. OMBION
Bulatlat
HUMAN RIGHTS
Vol. VII, No. 14 May 13-19, 2007

The people of the towns of Magallon and Isabela nestling at the foot of the scenic Mt. Kanlaon National Park and the mountain ranges of central Negros, around 80 kilometers east of this city, have been jittery since the weekend, when battle broke out between troopers of the Philippine Army’s 11th Infantry Battalion and men believed to be guerrillas of the New People’s Army (NPA).

On May 5, Lt. Col. Jess Mananquil, commander of the 11th IB, reported to the local media that three guerrillas belonging to a unit of the Larangan Gerilya I (Guerrilla Zone I) of the NPA were killed in legitimate encounter.

Mananquil said that the three guerrillas – identified as Richard Sarillo, Bobby Quilo and Benjamen Gelongga were killed in the first encounter Saturday afternoon in the mountain village of Inolingan, Magallon.

Mananquil said that after his battalion received reports on May 1 from civilian and intelligence sources that three groups of alleged NPA guerrillas were massing in Magallon implementing their permit to campaign policy, he immediately instructed separate teams of the 11th IB in Canlaon and Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, and Isabela and Magallon on the Occidental side, to mass and launch coordinated operations in Magallon and Isabela.

He said that on May 4 they established contacts with the NPAs, but running gunbattle broke out only beginning 4:00 in the afternoon after their Guihulngan unit who came ahead in the suspected lair of the NPAs were ambushed by the rebels; after several maneuvers and exchange of gunfire, the NPAs withdrew leaving three of their comrades dead on the ambush site.

He added that the running gun battle continued until the morning of May 6, and two other alleged rebels were later found dead in Sitio (sub-village) Malipayon, Barangay (village) Sibucawan, Isabela. He also confirmed that attack helicopters were used to back up their operations.

Civilians, not rebels

Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights)-Negros strongly condemned what it described as the “indiscriminate and irresponsible” statement of Lt. Col. Jess Managquil, commanding officer of the 11th IB for claiming that the three peasants killed in Isabela recently were members of the NPA slain in a legitimate encounter.

A fact-finding mission initiated by Karapatan-Negros reported that victims Bobby Quilo, 20 years old, Richard Sarillo, 28 and Benjamin Gelongga, 72 were all civilians and peasants from the hinterland area bordering the municipalities of Isabela and Moises Padilla.

“The three peasants were neither NPA members nor were they killed during the course of the encounter last May 5; their neighbors, including the wife of Richard Sarillo testified that the three were rounded up from their place at Upper Coyaoyao, Barangay Inulingan, Magallon by elements of the 11th IB and were massacred thereafter; their bodies were then brought down to Isabela and were presented by the Army as ‘casualties of a legitimate encounter,’ Jumar Utram, deputy secretary-general of Karapatan-Negros, said.

Utram said that the information they have gathered from the area revealed that at around 2:00 in the afternoon of May 5, armed skirmishes took place between the Army and the NPAs at Sitio Malipayon, Brgy. Sibucauan, a community adjacent to where the victims reside.

He said the skirmishes lasted for about an hour with sporadic gun fire, and when it subsided at around 6 p.m., Richard Sarillo (son-in-law of Gelongga) decided to take refuge at Brgy. Sibucauan proper together with his family. His wife, Marilou and five children went ahead while Richard returned to their house to keep watch and feed their livestock while they were away. Benjamin Gelongga, who has difficulty with his hearing, and Bobby Quilo (nephew of Gelongga) on the other hand remained at the former’s house at Coyaoyao.

During the course of the military operation, Utram explained, troopers of the 11th IB who came from the towns of Isabela, Moises Padilla and Guihulngan including three helicopter gunships scoured the neighboring areas and conducted pursuit operations following the armed encounter.

“When they reached the victims’ houses, the Army rounded them and without reason accused them as NPA members and massacred them,” Utram said.

Mananquil, in subsequent media interviews, insisted that they cannot be civilians, because their dead bodies were in the ambush site of the NPAs, and from them were recovered two back packs, three carbine magazines, and subversive documents.

In a follow up investigation by Bulatlat, Mary Jane Castillo, sister of Quilo, said that Quilo, Gelongga and Sarillo evacuated Inolingan in the afternoon of May 5 when the encounter broke out; they returned to their place around 6:30 in the evening when they thought the encounter was already over. But the military who were just around massacred them, she added.

She also said that the two other civilians, Romeo Vergara and his daughter Rosemarie, were shot by the military Sunday around 6:00 a.m. the next day at their house in the same village of Isabela, for being suspected as NPA sympathizers.

“The five were not NPAs, but were known in the village as ordinary tapasero (sugarcane cutters), manog-uling (charcoal maker), mangunguma (farmers); they can check that in the area,” she added.

Karapatan-Negros stated in its fact-finding report that the three victims were deprived of their right to life and were falsely accused as rebel members purposely to cover up the atrocities committed by the army.

Karapatan-Negros also holds Mananquil responsible for the massacre “He should issue a public apology for deliberately hiding the truth and sowing disinformation; he should also apologize before the families of the victims and indemnify them for the killings and damaged properties, instead of fabricating justifications for their crimes,” Utram said.

Mass evacuation

The coordinated military operation also triggered dislocation of civilians from three barangays of Isabela and Moises Padilla, involving close to a thousand civilians including children who have left their homes and evacuated to four evacuation sites, Utram said.

He added that about 200 evacuees were recorded at Brgy. Sibucauan; Sitio Minuro Flores, Brgy. Inulingan have about 300 evacuees in Sitios Napiluan and Tibubong; and there are also evacuees in Brgy. Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla.

The evacuees are now staying in barangay school buildings and purok (village cluster) chapels.

As of press time, the running battle is reported to be raging in the mountain villages of Magallon and Isabela. The number of evacuees is reported to have risen. (Bulatlat.com)

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