HUMAN
RIGHTS WATCH
GMA Anti-Red Campaign Worsens Military Abuse of Civilians
The government’s all-out
campaign against the New People’s Army (NPA) ends up affecting civilians
who are now at the receiving end of military abuses.
BY BULATLAT
|
Victims and relatives
of human rights abuses called for a stop to the killings and
disappearances as they decry that the government’s all-out anti-communist
campaign takes a worsening toll on civilians.
“NPA po ba ang
pinapaslang ng militar? Hindi, kundi mga magsasaka, mga manggagawa, mga
lider aktibista sa baryo,” (Is
the military killing New People’s Army rebels? No, they are killing
peasants, workers and activist leaders in the villages.) said Josie
Javier, spokesperson of Mothers and Relatives of Martyrs (MARTYR).
Javier’s husband Armando Jr., was slain by suspected soldiers of the 71st
Infantry Battalion.
In a gathering in
Quezon City last June 24, Javier and other relatives of political killings
and abduction spoke with heavy hearts about their ordeal in pursuing
justice, as they expressed fear that the abuses under Arroyo will even
worsen. The gathering was attended by mostly women relatives, with some
relating how they witnessed their son or husband being killed.
|
MARTYR. Mercedes
Montabon cries over the picture of her son Marvin, 21, who was shot
and burned to death by soldiers in their hut in Tarangnan town, Samar
province, on March 14, 2005.
PHOTO BY AYA SANTOS |
Jigs Clamor, national
secretary general of Karapatan (a human rights organization), said
officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are again tagging even
human rights organizations as communist fronts, making them also targets
of the military campaign.
Clamor said that
under the Arroyo administration, there are 690 victims of political
killings, with three victims killed every week. The desaparecidos,
or those who were abducted and missing have reached 178, the latest
being Rudy Calubad and his son Gabriel who were abducted in Calauag,
Quezon last June 17.
Six-month long military operations
Dorris Cuario,
secretary general of the Karapatan chapter in Southern Tagalog, said that
they need to assert the people’s rights even more, as the President had
identified their region as “priority areas” under the anti-communist
campaign, along with the Central Luzon and Bicol regions.
Cuario noted that the
redeployed government troops from
Mindanao arrived in Quezon last
June 23 for a six-month long military operation.
“Ang isang bilyong
piso ay nakatuon daw sa NPA, pero ang totoo, mga magsasaka ang tinatakot,
pinapatay, at hindi makapaghanapbuhay,“ (The P1 billion [$18.78
million, based on an exchange rate of P53.26 per US dollar] fund is
supposed to target NPAs, but in reality, it is the peasants who are being
harassed, killed and prevented from making a living.) said Cuario.
In Lopez town, Quezon
province (219 kms south of Manila),
three minors were charged by the soldiers of the 76th Infantry
Battalion with rebellion, murder and frustrated murder. The three youths,
all aged 15, were making copra in the mountainous village of
Guinyangan
when they were chanced upon by soldiers pursuing NPA rebels.
The soldiers accused
the three of being with the rebels and ordered them to load the body of a
slain soldier on the youths’ carabao-pulled cart. The three were then
forced to carry the soldiers’ backpacks and a generator from the mountain
to the highway.
The three minors were
brought to the soldiers‘camp in Espina village along with Herpet Imperial,
19, also of Guinyangan, and two other men, Nonilon Paro, 45, of Pisipis
village, and Fernando Torres, 43 of Espina village. The minors were
released to their parents’ custody, while the others were still under
detention.
Disappearances
Elizabeth Calubad of
Caluag, Quezon, narrated how she searched for her missing husband, Rudy,
53 and her son Gabriel, 29. Calubad quoted a witness who said that the two
were on a motorcycle on their way to Bangkuruhan village when they were
blocked by soldiers on a van. The soldiers handcuffed the elder Calubad
and forced him in the van, while another rode with the younger Calubad on
the motorcycle.
Calubad cried as she
spoke how she vainly searched for her husband and son in police and
military camps. “Masakit, alam n’yo kayong mga biktimang nandito, pero
sinisikap kong magpakatatag,” (It hurts, you know being victims, too,
but I try to be strong.) she said.
Calubad said Gabriel
has a child who is now asking where he is.
The meeting of
victims’ relatives was the third in three months, an effort by the
relatives and human rights advocates to regularly gather together to find
strength from their common tragedies. Bulatlat
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