Soldiers, Cafgus accused of mauling teener

From the Sun Star-Davao (Nov 14): Soldiers, Cafgus accused of mauling teener

A TEENAGER filed Tuesday a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)-Davao against members of Philippine Army (PA) for allegedly mauling and tagging him as a member of the New People’s Army (NPA). The 19-year-old victim, who refused to be identified for security reasons, was accompanied by militant group Karapatan at the CHR office at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The complainant said around nine soldiers and two Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgus) mauled and tagged him as NPA member in Barangay San Isidro, Compostela Valley last November 5, 2012. Of the 11 members of the Army’s 66th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (PA), he identified two of them as William Bautista and Alfred Ocbit. “It was 6 o'clock in the morning when the soldiers approached and asked me several questions. They insisted that I'm a communist rebel saying I looked like them, I said no but they didn't believe and instead mauled me,” he narrated in the vernacular. He added that after he was mauled, he was forced to eat a raw fish and drink water that had the strong taste of rust. He said he was able to flee after shouting for help from his mother Leah. “I was in the house preparing our breakfast when I heard him (Bob) calling me. I was about to run towards the area but I didn’t hear his voice again. I was worried, but thankful that he is still alive,” Leah said. Reverend Jaime Jurie, spokesperson for the Karapatan, said the victim was accompanied by his mother when he arrived at their office on F. Torres Street on Monday to seek their assistance. “As a spokesperson and representative for the Karapatan, I accompanied the victim and his mother here (CHR) so they could file proper complaint against the accused,” Jurie said. Asource from the CHR-11, who refused to be named for lack of authority to speak, said the bureau will conduct further investigation about the complaint of the victim. Lieutenant Colonel Lyndon Paniza, spokesperson for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, in a text message, asked the victim to file their complaint before a proper forum so that the accused can answer the accusations filed against them. “Had he filed his complaint before the police? So that we can also conduct an investigation on the matter,” Paniza said.  He did not say anything about forum shopping that a person who files similar complaints in several venues of redress may face.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2012/11/14/soldiers-cafgus-accused-mauling-teener-253197