RPA-AFP
Raid NPA Camp for Mining Operations in Negros
Backed by government troops, members of the RPA-ABB recently figured in a
raid of an alleged NPA camp in a Negros Oriental town. This appears to be
the latest in a series of joint counter-insurgency campaigns by both
government forces and the rebel faction.
By Karl G. Ombion
Bulatlat
 |
FFM members in a
dialogue with mountain village folks in Brgy. Tayak
Photo courtesy of
Karapatan-Negros |
DUMAGUETE
CITY, Negros Oriental – More than a decade ago, the town of Siaton, 40 kms
south of this city, was declared a “no man’s land” – an area where the
military would conduct military operations and civilians who have not left
their villages are a fair game. Since then however a lull in hostilities
between New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas and government forces has given
town residents a relative calm.
That calm
was broken on March 9.
At around 7
a.m. on that day, successive bursts of gunfire from what seemed to be
high-powered rifles startled the people of Sitios (subvillages) Cang-angin
and Kabangkalan, in the mountain barangay (village) of Tayak, Siaton town.
Some
villagers, who had barely begun their farm work, thought the gunfire was
the opening salvo of a fiesta in a neighboring village. (Some village
fiestas traditionally begin with dawn “rondallas” and firecrackers.
However, farmer Crispino Olfos had no doubt that it was “a signal of the
grim past coming to life.”
Narrating
the incident later to a fact-finding mission led by Karapatan, a human
rights alliance, Olfos said that an hour after the volley of gunfire, he
saw armed men from the suspected Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex
Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) withdrawing from a nearby site, passed his
house, quickly grabbed him and made him as their shield to elude an NPA
unit that was hot on their trail.
The
suspected RPA-ABB elements, it was learned, left Olfos in a nearby site
after securing their withdrawal. Earlier, two squads of the suspected
RPA-ABB – a rebel faction that bolted from the NPA in the early 1990s –
reportedly backed by soldiers from the Philippine Army’s 61st
IB, had raided an alleged camp of the NPA up in Tayak’s forest.
The PA-RPA-ABB
operation and subsequent exchange of fire with the NPA guerrillas lasted
until 10 in the morning and resulted in the death of three – one from the
RPA-ABB and two from the NPA. Both the RPA-ABB and the 303rd
Brigade of the PA, said the Karapatan fact-finding mission, were quick to
claim that they “have no intention to sow fear in the villages” but simply
to “clear the place of NPA terrorists.”
The
operations also forced 11 families to flee their homes, Karapatan said.
Col. Jogy
Leo Pojas, commander of the 303rd IB in Negros island, told the local
media that a “sizeable number of red fighters of the Preparatory Front Six
of the CPP-New People’s Army in south-east Negros, were encamped inside a
marshy portion of Mantikil village.”
Fojas also
said that their operation was “a preemptive strike” against the NPA who
were planning to stage tactical offensives in preparation for their
anniversary on March 29.”
Recovered
from the NPA, he said, were sacks of rice, ammunition, computer printer,
and subversive documents.
As of press
time, both the soldiers and the RPA-ABB units have set up a wide dragnet
in Tayak, Kasalaan, Mantikil and Apoloy, of Siaton town, to flush out
CPP-NPA rebels believed holed up in the area.
Meanwhile,
members of the Karapatan chapters of Negros Occidental, Oriental and Cebu
that conducted a joint fact finding mission said that they have documented
10 cases of human rights violations, involving 68 victims, and at least
11 families who fled to other barangays to escape terror.
Aside from
illegal searches, harassments, and using human as shields during
operations and counter-operations, Karapatan also recorded several cases
of divestment of properties, mopping-up and zoning operations which
resulted in confiscation of rice and corn supplies, chickens, and other
personal property.
Karapatan
also reported that the soldiers who backed up the RPA-ABB operations
denied a decent burial for the two NPA guerrillas killed in the raid, by
allowing their bodies to rot under the summer heat for two days. Villagers
facilitated the exhumation and burial of the two NPA guerrillas. This was
a clear violation of the Comprehensive Agreement for the Respect of Human
Rights and International Humanitarian Law that the National Democratic
Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and government signed in 1998, Karapatan
said.
Members of
the fact-finding mission, Karapatan complained, was also harassed by the
elements of the RPA-ABB and the Philippine Army while conducting their
investigation.
Fred Caña,
member of the Karapatan National Council, and one of the leaders of the
mission, said that soldiers barred them from interviewing local residents
and members of the Army’s operating units.
Clearing operations for mining
In a
dialogue between the Karapatan-led mission and more than 200 residents of
Mantikil, farmers reported meeting bands of RPA-ABB together with some
soldiers conducting military operations and house-to-house identification
in the mountain villages of Siaton, and the neighboring towns of Bayawan
and Sta. Catalina.
Citing
residents’ testimonies, Caña said the joint operations of the RPA-ABB and
government forces were connected with the resumption of mining operations
that had been stopped earlier by local protests. In December last year,
the Supreme Court reversed its January 2004 ruling by declaring the
controversial 1995 Mining Code as constitutional.
Olfos also
told the mission that villagers had in the past repeatedly complained of
harassment by elements of the RPA-ABB and the military and also during the
time the armed groups escorted the entry of heavy construction equipment
of the provincial government.
Negros
Oriental Gov. Jorge Arnaiz recently announced the fast tracking of
farm-to-market roads and other infrastructure in the mountain villages of
Siaton, Sta. Catalina and Bayawan.
The upland
farmers, Olfos said, have opposed infrastructural projects because these
are part of the clearing operations for the resumption of the mining
explorations in their villages. The mining projects will only dislocate
thousands of farmers from their lands and villages, Olfos added.
Following
the Supreme Court reversal on the mining act, applications for mining
exploration and operations have increased and, according to government,
are expected to boost state revenues.
In Negros,
the southwest and southeast parts, Caña said, are particularly abundant
with mineral resources including gold, copper, silver, nickel and
molybdenum. The island’s stock of molybdenum, is the largest reserves in
the country, estimated at 78 percent. It is in these areas where big
mining companies have operated for decades.
Total MPSA
mining claims in the island cover 360,260 hectares. Of these, 290,802
hectares are claimed by 24 operating mining companies under MPSA in Negros
Occidental.
Caña also
alleged that RPA-ABB elements are being deputized as forest guards by
Governor Arnaiz to legitimize their anti-people operations and render
protection for the mining operations and other government projects.
Karapatan-Negros, meanwhile, slammed the RPA-ABB as “special armed gang”
of Arnaiz of Negros Oriental and as special paramilitary unit of the
Philippine Army in terrorizing mountain villages and hunting NPA units.
Fojas
himself reportedly admitted that they have reinforced the RPA-ABB group
who raided the NPA guerrillas in Mantikil and other parts of Negros
island.
Stephen
Paduana also known as (aka) Carapali Lualhati, RPA-ABB national commander,
confirmed over local media that there is indeed “ongoing joint AFP-RPA/ABB
combat operations against CPP-NPA rebels.” (As part of a previous peace
agreement, the RPA-ABB agreed to help in government’s counter-insurgency
operations, it was also reported.) Bulatlat
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