‘The Soldiers Ruined Our Lives’
Reign of terror in three towns of Occidental Mindoro

A Mangyan is beaten up with an Armalite and its barrel forced into his anus. Another is made to climb a tree and sing while soldiers taunted him with insults. A house is torn down and a mini-store looted. There are other beatings and arbitrary arrests. All these and more are what happened when about 2,000 soldiers stormed three towns in Occidental Mindoro for seven days late January in search of NPA guerrillas. Military operations are continuing.

BY DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat.com

"The military ruined our lives."

In tears, Liberato Lutero, 39, could only blame the military for the damage done to his family's home and livelihood.  He never knew their house would be so destroyed and his mini-store looted until he saw video footages of what was left of his property in Sitio Aglimasan, Barangay Harrison, Paluan, Occidental Mindoro.  The video, produced by the multi-media group ST Exposure, was shown in a news conference on Jan. 30. 

"Hindi ko mapigilan ang luha ko nung makita ko ang ginawa ng militar sa aming bahay”  (I could not hold back my tears when I saw what the military had done to our home), said Liberato.  It was the first time he saw his house again after the military demolished it on Jan. 14 during the military's counter insurgency operation in their village.  The footages also showed their mini store ransacked.

Liberato, a village official, fled from his home on Jan. 13 as news broke out in their village that he was being hunted down by the military.  Soldiers suspected him as an NPA commander. 

Fearing for his life, Liberato walked away from their home half-dazed, boarded a boat to Batangas province and rode as many buses and jeeps as possible until he realized he was in Manila. 

"May nabalitaan na kasi ako na mga hinaharas at hinuhuli ng military kaya nung narinig ko na hinahanap ako tumakbo na ako palayo sa amin.  Nawala ako sa sarili ko.  Hindi ko nga namalayan na nakarating na ako sa Maynila” (I already heard news that some of my neighbors have been harassed and abducted by the military.  When I heard that I was being hunted down I ran away from home.  I almost lost my sanity.  I did not realize I have reached Manila), he said.

Liberato knocked on a relative's house in Manila and sought shelter. On Jan. 27, he was reunited with his family.

A peaceful village

It has been 28 years since Liberato and his family migrated to Mindoro island from their native Masbate province, also in Southern Luzon. From the time he set foot on what would be home, Liberato had been witness to the village’s rustic serenity. 

"Walang magnanakaw dito sa amin” (There are no thieves in our village), he said. 

His wife Joy, 39, said their village was treated as such by neighboring villages.  "Sikat nga kami sa ibang lugar kasi mapayapa doon sa amin” (We are famous in other villages because it is peaceful in our place), she said.

Military terrorized villagers

The couple disputed the military's claims that it was members of the New People's Army (NPA) who were terrorizing the villagers. 

"Nagkaroon lang naman ng kagulahan at pandarahas dito nung dumating ang mga militar” (Violent incidents only happened when the military reached our place), said Liberato. 

An INQ7.net report quotes Army Maj. Jose Broso, spokesperson of the Army's Southern Luzon Unified Command based in Camp Nakar, Quezon as admitting that there were military operations in Occidental Mindoro. Broso said the troop deployment was made following the discovery of a big training camp of NPA guerrillas in a remote village of Paluan on Jan. 14.

"It's a legitimate military operation against fleeing NPA terrorists in the area," he said.

Troop deployment

The rash of reports of human rights violations in Mindoro prompted the human rights group Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples' Rights), together with its regional chapter, to send a 50-man Quick Reaction Force (QRF) to the towns of Paluan, Abra de Ilog and Mamburao for investigation.  The team probed the area from Jan. 19 to 27. 

Following is how the QRF team recounts what happened:

Troop deployment began on Jan. 11 with Paluan Vice Mayor Leonardo Alcantara receiving reports that about 700 soldiers or two companies of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) arrived in Abra de Ilog, a neighboring town of Paluan. 

Three days later, another large number of troops arrived in Sitio (sub-village) Aglimasan also in Paluan. Residents said the soldiers who, they added, wore no nametags raided the village without explaining why.

All in all, there were 2,000 troops who entered Paluan, Abra de Ilog and Mamburao. The troops came from the 22nd Reconnaissance Company of the Philippine Army (PA), 16th Infantry Battalion PA and the 68th Infantry Battalion PA.

The military's arrival in Aglimasan on Jan. 14 took the villagers by surprise. 

Joy recalled: "Nung nakita ko na dumadating yung military, tumakbo na ako sa kabilang sitio (Sitio Kalangigan) kasi duon nag-aaral yung mga anak ko.  Sinundo ko na sila dahil natakot ako na baka i-hostage nila yung isa sa mga anak ko para lumabas yung tatay nila” (When I saw the military arrive I instinctively ran to the next village (Sitio Kalangigan) where my children were studying.  I fetched them fearing that the military would take one of my children as hostage in order to force my husband to surrender.)  

It was only on Jan. 19 when Joy and her five children went back to their village. They were shocked to see their house torn down and their mini store looted. 

"Kinuha na ng military ang lahat sa amin.  Wala silang itinira.  Pati mga hayop namin pinatay nila.  Nag-iiyak ako dahil hindi ko akalain na mangyayari ito sa amin” (The military has taken everything from us.  They even slaughtered our animals.  I cried. I could not believe this has happened to us), she said.

One of her children, Totoy, 15, is disabled.  The boy also caught malaria during the military operations in their village.

April, Joy's 10-year old daughter, said she has stopped schooling since the start of the military operations. "Wala na kaming pasok sa eskwela kasi natakot na ang titser namin” (There are no classes because our teacher has gone afraid), she said. 

For seven days – Jan. 14-20 - Aglimasan was practically turned into a military garrison with a big number of heavily-armed troops always on guard, on patrol and interrogating residents.

The QRF report found seven persons were arbitrarily detained; two cases of violation of domicile affecting three families; one case of destruction of property affecting three families; three cases of harassment affecting nine individuals; two cases of divestment of property; two cases of indiscriminate firing; two cases of physical assault affecting four individuals; two cases of torture affecting two individuals; two cases of economic dislocation affecting 19 families; and two cases hamletting.

Discrimination and humiliation of Mangyans

Mangyan villagers were not spared from the military atrocities, the report said.  Video footages showed several Mangyans relating the humiliation and torture inflicted by the military.

"Pinaglaruan kami ng mga sundalo” (The military made fun of us), said Dante Ulayan, 25, said in the footage.

He said that on Jan. 15, soldiers beat him up with an M16 rifle butt. They forced the rifle’s barrel into his anus.  He was then asked to tie his shirt around his face so he would look like an NPA.  Then he was forced to climb a tree where, for two hours under the heat of the sun, he was asked to stay on top.

On the same day, Nanding Gatmaitan, 30, was also hit with an M16 rifle butt.  He was forced into a tree hole and was forced to climb a tree.  Upon reaching the treetop, he was asked to sing while soldiers were taunting him with insults.  He was also forced to stay there under the heat of the sun for an hour. 

It was only on Jan. 21 that the military went back to the mountains to continue their pursuit of the NPA. About 79 residents – 50 of them children – who earlier had to evacuate to the Paluan town proper went back to their village. Bulatlat.com

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