Military refuses to turn over 10-year old boy to family

Ten year-old Levy Mabanan has not been with his family for almost two years now. He has been living in a military camp in Maulong Catbalogan, Samar ever since he was “captured” by the 18^th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army as an alleged child combatant during an encounter with the New People’s Army (NPA) on December 6, 2000. Last August 2, Levy’s brothers took the military to court to get Levy back.

By BULATLAT.COM

Instead of recognizing the family’s right over the boy, the military is contesting the family’s petition for custody.

The militant women’s group Gabriela denounced the military’s refusal to hand over the boy to his family. “The best place for healing a traumatized child is definitely not a military camp. The family remains to be the basic unit of nurturance and security. And that is where Levy belongs,” declared Emmi de Jesus, GABRIELA Deputy Secretary General.

Levy is reportedly living in Camp Lucban under the care of the military chaplain Rev. Fr. Daniel Tansip. Although he is free to move around the camp, anyone who wishes to see him has to go through a “rigmarole of red tape,” said de Jesus.

The group deplored the military for contesting the custody petition. According to de Jesus, the boy needs to live normally even in an abnormal situation. “Instead of helping him integrate in a familiar atmosphere and help process his psycho-social trauma, his continued stay at the camp exposes him to guns, tanks, uniformed soldiers, the very same source of his trauma. For all we know, this is intentional on the part of the military to desensitize the boy and subtly brainwash him into believing that they are his savior though in truth, they were the ones who killed Levy’s foster parents,” she added. Bulatlat.com

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