HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
‘Father, I’m Hit!’
Palparan threat forces Samarnons out of hinterlands
Several families are
deserting Samar and are now living an uncertain life in Manila. To go back
now would put their lives in harm amid the escalation of military
operations that have victimized both legal personalities and rural
villagers.
BY DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat
YESTERDAY AND TODAY: Mural compares Gen. Jacob Smith to Maj. Gen.
Jovito Palparan, Jr. |
Salvador Montabo, 50, today plies the
streets of Manila to sell cigarettes for a living. This has been his fate
for more than a month now since he and his family fled their home in
Barangay (village) Palencia, Tarangnan, Samar in central Philippines.
In an interview with Bulatlat,
Montabo said he and his family used to live a simple but peaceful life in
Samar. As a fisherman, he would provide the family with fish and other
seafood while his son, 23-year-old Marvin, a farmer, would provide rice.
“Pero wala na lahat yun ngayon”
(But all that is gone now), he said.
Turn-around
Peace turned into nightmare when at
around 2 a.m. on March 14, the howling of dogs awakened Montabo. As he
peeped through the window, he saw two armed men crawling toward their
house.
|
“Marvin, tumakbo ka na may armado
sa labas” (Marvin, run, there are armed men outside), he recalls
telling his son.
“Kayo na lang ang tumakbo”
(It’s you who should run), Marvin told his father.
One of the armed men, wearing a black
jacket and ski mask, entered their house, Montabo said. He immediately ran
outside. When he was about 40 meters away from their house, Montabo said a
gunshot rang out.
“Tatay, may tama ako” (Father,
I’m hit), he heard his son shout. That was the last time he would hear of
his son. Then he heard another shot.
The two armed men then poured gasoline
around the house – a nipa hut made of cogon and bamboo. Then they lit it
on fire.
As the hut was ablaze, Montabo’s wife
and three other children, who had also been roused by the shots, rushed
outside the house. His wife tried to rescue Marvin out of the house but
was prevented by the intense blaze.
Only when the hut was completely
gutted did Montabo and some relatives went back to retrieve Marvin’s body.
It was completely scarred beyond recognition.
Marvin was laid to rest the following
morning. He was from the party-list group Anakpawis (toiling masses) and
the first member to be gunned down in Samar this year. Another party-list,
Bayan Muna (BM - people first), lists about three of its members in the
same province killed since January this year. One of the three was labor
and human rights lawyer Fedilito Dacut, a victim of ambush also on March
14.
Bus to Manila
After the funeral, Montabo and his
family, including two of his married sons and their families – 17 all –
bringing only the clothes they wore rode a bus to Manila.
Montabo had only P600 in his pocket
for everybody’s 24-hour trip to Manila. A relative from Manila met them at
the bus terminal and paid the total fare of P6,600.
The Montabos are just among several
families who have fled Samar this year to evade what they said were
threats against their lives amid the intensified counter-insurgency
campaign that began with the deployment of Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan as
Army commanding general for Eastern Visayas.
The family of Barangay Tanod
(security) Arsenio Cabigayan, 56, hitched a ride with a fish dealer to get
to Manila and save themselves from further harm from the military.
Cabigayan said soldiers from the 34th Infantry Battalion of the
Philippine Army (IBPA) have wreaked havoc among the residents of Barangay
Palencia after a reported encounter with New People’s Army (NPA)
guerrillas on March 3 in the same area.
Cabigayan said a military unit made
the village hall of Palencia their temporary detachment after the
firefight with the NPA. Soldiers in camouflage uniforms would roam around
the village at daytime but would change into black outfits and ski masks
when they make the rounds at night, frightening the villagers.
The barangay tanod said more than 50
residents have left their village for fear of their lives.
The human rights group Katungod-SB
(Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights - Eastern Visayas) has
documented 10 cases of summary executions, six cases of disappearances and
three cases of frustrated killings, among others, since January.
Palparan
The rash of killings came after
Palparan, CO of the 8th IBPA, declared in a media forum,
“Express it at the Park,” in Tacloban City on March 5 that he will “end up
all anti-government rallies in Samar Island within six months.” He also
declared war against leaders and members of legal organizations in Eastern
Visayas.
The following day, to show the new
military command meant business, 30 soldiers in full battle gear and with
an armored personnel carrier (APC) stationed themselves in front of the BM
provicial headquarters in Sitio Bukhasan, Barangay Cawayan, Catarman,
Northern Samar.
Then a month later, armed men hurled
molotov bombs into the same BM office wounding member Oscar Turla Jr.
Turla sustained first degree burns on the face.
On April 16, 19 and 20, Katungod-SB
reported that Barangay Catarman, Calbayog City and Pambujan in Northern
Samar came under aerial bombings by the Philippine Air Force choppers.
The human rights organization also
said it has a copy of the military’s Order of Battle (OB) which names 36
activists including Katungod-SB’s secretary general Alex Garcia-Lagunzad.
Dacut topped the list.
The House of Representatives Committee
on Human Rights is expected to investigate the series of abuses allegedly
perpetrated by Palparan and his men.
Meanwhile, more and more Samarnons are
taking refuge in Manila, living in their relatives’ houses or on the
streets. “Mahihirapan na kaming bumalik kung patuloy ang gulo” (It
would be difficult for us to go back if the threats persist), Montabo
said. Bulatlat
Related story:
Palparan: From Mindoro to Iraq
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