Jessica said they
have reason to be alarmed because her husband and Valleriano worked
together with Ka Orlan in the fight against the dump.
More so, the two men
whose houses were marked with an “X” have also been tagged as Left-leaning
militants by soldiers who are stationed inside an old day-care center
beside the Binuangan Barangay (village) Hall.
Reinforcing the
CAFGU
In an interview,
Barangay Captain William de Ocampo said soldiers belonging to the Army’s
56th Infantry Battalion were stationed here after New People’s
Army (NPA) guerillas successfully raided a detachment of the Citizens’
Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) in the village on April 21 and
confiscated 17 firearms.
The CAFGU, de Ocampo
said, was stationed in the village to stifle dissent over the pollution
wrought by the dump. In the last quarter of 2005, residents in this
village initiated a campaign against the passage of a barge that
transported garbage to the dumpsite.
Order of Battle
De Ocampo said there
are residents in the village who are asked to report everyday to the
military. He said these residents have been earlier tagged by soldiers as
“Left-leaning,” or supporters or financiers of the NPA, or have been seen
joining rallies.
These residents are
made to sign a logbook everyday, de Ocampo said, to make sure that they do
not leave the village. He further said that his constituents who are in
the military’s list are subjected to tactical interrogation every time
they report to the military detachment.
De Ocampo said the
military holds a list of those who are in their “Order of Battle” (OB).
He confirmed that Ka Orlan was in the list. The soldiers, he said, have
been assigned in this village to fight “insurgency.”
Fear and panic
The military’s scare
tactics on the people of Binuangan is not an isolated case. Other villages
have been likewise militarized after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
declared an intensification of the all-out war against the Communist Party
of the Philippines (CPP), the NPA, and the National Democratic Front of
the Philippines (NDFP). With the all-out war, leaders, members, and
supporters of cause-oriented organizations, which the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) tags as “front organizations,” became targets of attack.
In the towns of Lupao
and Rizal in Nueva Ecija, municipal officials said residents are in a
panic to secure community tax certificates (cedula) lest they be
suspected of being rebels.
In Lupao, the
municipal hall has run out of cedula after distributing 50 booklets
(2,500 pcs) to its residents. In Rizal town, the municipal hall had to
work overtime for three days, from Aug. 9-11, till 9 p.m. just to
distribute cedulas to residents who came from far-flung villages
and neighboring towns. “Nagpupunta sila dito nakasakay sa jeep,
tricycle o kuliglig. Pami-pamilya, bara-barangay kung dumating sila dito
sa munisipyo para kumuha lang ng sedula” (They come here riding jeeps,
tricycles, and tractors. They come in droves, whole families, villages
arriving here in the municipal hall to get cedulas.), a municipal
worker of Rizal town said in an interview.
Even boys as young as
13 years old have been securing cedulas. “Nagmamakaawa sila sa
amin na isyuhan na namin sila ng sedula kasi natatakot sila,” the
municipal worker said, “Kaya kahit bawal kami mag-isyu ng sedula sa
bata binibigyan na namin sila.” (They beg us to issue cedulas
to them because they are afraid. That is why we give cedulas to
them even if we are not supposed to issue it to minors.)
The cedula is
used for legal and business transactions and is issued to residents 18
years and above, the municipal officer said.
Meanwhile, the mad
rush for a cedula has given municipalities in Nueva Ecija a big
bounty. In Rizal alone, the municipal worker said, minors and the elderly
are made to pay P17.50 ($0.34 at an exchange rate of $1=P51.115) per
cedula while adults pay P35 ($0.68) each. Rizal town earned at least
P300,000 ($5,869.11) in three days after it distributed 211 booklets
(10,000 pcs).
Fleeing
The continued
presence of the military in villages has, however, caused deep anxiety
among the residents.
In fact, unknown to
the neighborhood in Binuangan, a family, whose identity is withheld,
quietly sneaked out of the village earlier in the day to take refuge in a
nearby town. A church leader, who asked not to be identified, said the
family asked for assistance after a soldier marked their house with an “X”
a day after the murder of Ka Orlan.
In Lupao, Arlyn
Ragaza, St. James the Great parish priest, said some of his parishioners
have left their town out of fear. This happened after two civilians were
killed and three others abducted in Barangay Parista where soldiers
belonging to the 71st IB PA are stationed. The families of the
victims are now in sanctuary while witnesses are left tongue-tied.
One villager who
asked for anonymity said about six of their neighbors who were called by
the soldiers for questioning inside the military detachment committed
suicide. “Hindi nila makayanan ang torture sa kanila” (They were
not able to withstand the torture inflicted on them.), the villager said.
Unconfirmed reports revealed that residents who were accused of being
supporters of the NPA were made to list down names of guerillas that they
know. Those who were unable to write any name were told to go home and
were threatened that they will be “abducted by midnight.”
No leads
Even the police seem
to be helpless in keeping peace and order in the communities. Police Sr.
Inspector Jose Ocampo Jr., Lupao’s chief of police, said although the
killings and abductions were reported to them, their investigations faced
a blank wall as “they had no leads.”
“Pag tinanong
namin ang mga tao, sasabihin sa amin wala silang alam. Pag tinanong namin
ang military, sasabihin nila wala silang alam, hindi raw sila ang pumatay
o kumuha. Wala naman kaming magawa,” (Whenever we ask the people, they
tell us that they don’t know anything. If we ask the military, they tell
us that they also don’t know anything and that they were not involved in
the killing or abduction. We cannot do anything.), he told Bulatlat
in an interview. Bulatlat
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