From the Philippine Star (Nov 19): ‘Foreigners seen with NPAs in Isabela clash are Dutch students’
The three foreigners reportedly seen with communist rebels during a clash with government troops in a remote Isabela village last Saturday are Dutch students, a source said yesterday. The Dutch women were said to be conducting a study on the crocodile conservation efforts of the Isabela-based Mabuwaya Foundation. A source said one of the foreigners was among the 12 fatalities in the five-hour encounter between the rebels and members of the Reconnaissance Company of the Army’s 502nd Infantry Brigade (IB) in Echague’s Mabbayad village. Mabuwaya, which is affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund, is a non-government group working for the conservation of the Philippine crocodiles. The foundation has a crocodile breeding center in San Mariano town, and a crocodile sanctuary in the wilds of the San Mariano-Divilacan area. Marites Gatan-Balabas, deputy director of the Mabuwaya Foundation, denied having foreigners in their group. “ Aside from that, our students are in Maconacon and Divilacan (Isabela coastal towns),” she said. “We receive reports about the presence of foreigners tagging along with the rebels during the encounter. But we could not ascertain if they were indeed with the lawless group or just happened to be there,” Col. Loreto Magundayao, spokesman for the Gamu, Isabela-based Army’s 5th Infantry Division, which has jurisdiction over the 502nd IB, said. “Maybe they were there not necessarily with the lawless group. Maybe they just happened to be there when the encounter occurred,” said Magundayao. Last Saturday’s encounter left seven soldiers and five communist guerillas dead. Seven soldiers and 10 rebels were also wounded.
http://www.philstar.com/nation/2012/11/20/868757/%E2%80%98foreigners-seen-npas-isabela-clash-are-dutch-students%E2%80%99
Still think that the "foreigner" sighting is highly unlikely. Nonetheless, there have been incidents were civlians were killed, injured, or captured while in the company of NPA units. In most cases, they appeared to be young students sent "on exposure" into the Philippine countryside to experience the life of local peasants first hand. They are usually sent under the auspices of CPP student front organizatons (League of Filipino Students (LFS), College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP), etc). A well-known example is the death of Benjaline "Benjie" Hernandez, a member of the CEGP who was killed while traveling with an NPA unit in Arakan, North Cotabato in 2002. CPP front groups would later claim that she was murdered by Philippine soldiers. Another example, is Melissa Roxas, a Filipina American (and member of BAYAN USA, the US chapter of the CPP front) who claimed she was abducted and tortured by Philippine military agents in Tarlac province in 2009. Again, it appears that she was "on exposure" in the Philippines, however, her affiliation with the CPP front BAYAN, and her apparent refusal to cooperate with the US embassy, rendered her allegations highly suspicious and gave the appearance of being a propaganda stunt intended to discredit the Philippine military. The Philippine Commision on Human Rights would later exonerate the military from any wrongdoing in her case.
ReplyDelete