|
HUMAN
RIGHTS WATCH
As
military storms Anakpawis HQ:
4 Bayan Muna Members Killed in
‘Valley of Death’
In
just two days in late April 2004, four Bayan Muna members were killed. The
police and a paramilitary group also stormed the headquarters of Anakpawis.
All of these happened in Compostela Valley which is now called the
“Valley of Death.”
By
Tyrone Velez
Bulatlat.com Mindanao Bureau
COMPOSTELA
VALLEY - Electoral violence against progressive party-list members in this
area intensifies as the election campaign nears its end.
Four
Bayan Muna members, three of them barangay (village) officials, were recently
killed. Meanwhile, the police and a paramilitary group stormed the municipal
headquarters of party-list group AnakPawis and accused its members of being New
People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas.
On
April 24, a team under the 60th Infantry Battalion reportedly shot three Bayan
Muna members from Barangay Datu Davao, municipality of Laak. Killed were Charlie
Mandaya Davao, son of a tribal chieftain; Ganadi Pinamaylan; and Charlie Utag,
son of a barangay councilor. Davao and Pinamaylan were also members of the
barangay council.
A
witness, Jimboy Bat-aw, told media that the three were inside an eatery when
three men in sleeveless shirts and camouflage shorts arrived, pulled out their
guns and accused them as NPA members. They then shot the victims.
Reports
said that after the shooting, regular forces of the 60th IB led by a certain 2nd
Lt. Salcedo arrived and strafed the eatery, wounding a barangay official. They
also publicly humiliated Barangay Captain Alex Aydao.
In
a press interview, 60th IB Commanding Officer Edgardo Gonzales said that the
three were NPA members and were killed in an encounter.
The battalion’s ex-officio, Alfredo Patarata, dismissed the accusation
that the troops murdered the three, saying it is “most unfair to accuse them
of murdering civilians.”
The
three victims are the 38th, 39th, and 40th Bayan Muna martyrs in the country,
according to Bayan Muna regional coordinator Dr. Shalom Lorenzana.
Another
gunned down
A
day before (April 23), a barangay official and leader of Bayan Muna in the
municipality of Monkayo was gunned down by an unknown assailant.
Reports
from Bayan Muna said that Rodolfo Gogo, a barangay official of Olaycon, Monkayo,
was shot by a gunman wearing white shirt and denim pants aboard a motorcycle
without a plate number.
Local
officials opined that the murder of Gogo was a result of heated political
rivalry among the mayoral candidates.
However,
Dr. Lorenzana believed that Gogo’s death is linked to the string of repression
of Bayan Muna members in the municipality.
Gogo is the second Bayan Muna member killed in Monkayo this year.
Threatened
Meanwhile,
AnakPawis reported that its members in the municipality of Mabini received
threats from elements of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Citizens
Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) who stormed its headquarters.
Anakpawis
Compostela Valley spokesperson Amancio Camarillo said the members were shocked
when the police aimed their guns at them and said in Visayan, “Look, the NPAs
are just staying here!”
Leaders
of Anakpawis consequently held a dialogue with local police officials regarding
this incident.
Grand
plan
Dr.
Lorenzana said that this spate of violence is part of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines’ (AFP) grand plan to neutralize and discredit Bayan Muna and other
progressive political groups by tagging them as communist fronts.
He
said Bayan Muna would not be cowed by these acts. Bayan Muna has likewise called
for a probe on the killings of its members.
For
his part, Camarillo said the accusations against Anakpawis show the paranoia of
the police as regards legal organizations that seek to bring the people’s
issues to the legislature.
“Valley
of Death”
Compostela
Valley has been tagged as the “Valley of Death” by Karapatan Southern
Mindanao, given its 45 cases of human rights violations under the Arroyo
administration from January 2001 to December 2003.
According
to Karapatan-Southern Mindanao, military, police and paramilitary groups
violated the human rights of 1,604 civilians.
Eight
battalions under the 4th Infantry Division are deployed in the region. The AFP
identified Compostela Valley as an area where insurgency is on the rise. Bulatlat.com
Back
to top
We
want to know what you think of this article.
|
