Military insists, “We will not leave Paquibato”

From the leftist and often pro-CPP Davao Today (Nov 16): Military insists, “We will not leave Paquibato”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) 10th Infantry Division said that its unit, the 69th Infantry Battalion, “will not leave Paquibato.” Lt. Col. Lyndon Paniza, 10th ID-AFP’s spokesperson said in an emailed statement, they have even identified “a strategic area” where the 69th IB’s headquarters will be transferred from Panabo City to Paquibato area “in due time.” Paniza’s announcement came after a week the Davao City Council approved a resolution exhorting the military to pullout its detachments from civilian structures such as schools and village halls.... Children’s rights group Kabiba, in the October 6 Peace and Humanitarian Mission in Pandaitan village, has also documented the actual encampment of said government troops in these civilian structures. The situation, the City Council Resolution said, is disturbing not only to residents but to non-residents as well, “knowing the danger that detachments pose to the communities should hostilities take place.” The resolution also stated that in times of civil unrest, vigilance will help “not to aggravate the peace and order situation especially in far-flung areas.”.... To “monitor and verify” the military’s statement, Kabiba vowed to visit Paquibato villages.m“We saw right before our eyes on how the soldiers have made the barangay hall and daycare center as their detachment,” said Kabiba’s Program Officer, Lovey Caragao, in a statement.... The children’s rights group scored the military for “attacking schools” and “violating children’s democratic right to education.”.... The military encampment in schools, according to Kabiba, is a violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law..... “The military has no basis under the law to use civilian facilities as barracks or detachments. They should leave,” said Mary Ann Sapar of the Gabriela Women’s Party Southern Mindanao. Sapar said that “extensive documentation” of rights groups pointed to the “extreme risk” that military detachments pose to civilians, especially women and children. Militarization, she said, is one of the “seven deadly sins against women” that includes rape and incest; sexual harassment; domestic violence: sex trafficking, white slavery, and prostitution; sexual discrimination; inaccessibility or limited access to maternal health and childcare and; violence as a result of state repression....

http://davaotoday.com/main/2012/11/16/military-insists-we-will-not-leave-paquibato/