Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Teacher, five others abducted by soldiers in Rizal province

From the pro-CPP "news" outlet Bulatlat (Nov 14): Teacher, five others abducted by soldiers in Rizal province

A teacher and five others were abducted by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Rodriguez, Rizal recently, prompting a lawmaker to demand their immediate release. ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. Antonio Tinio said in a statement that Mrs. Lanie Latuga, a teacher of Dumagat children, and five others arrested in Rizal last October 7 remain in military custody in an undisclosed military location. Saying that human rights abuses continue despite AFP claims to the contrary, the lawmaker strongly condemned the “illegal arrest and detention” of the six. Tinio said elements of the 16th and 59th Infantry Battalions of the Philippine Army (PA) arrested the six civilians in Sitio Uron, Puray. The civilians were arrested in an area where there was a reported encounter between Army soldiers and New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas on November 7. The soldiers arrested the civilians accusing them of being either members or supporters of the NPA. In the meantime, Army officials have yet to issue an official statement on the abduction, nor have they revealed where the six, who are mostly women, are being kept. “Teacher Lanie and her companions are the newest victims of a military establishment which—per the skewed, inhumane logic of Oplan Bayanihan—does not distinguish between combatants and civilians,” said Tinio. “That they were arrested for being near the site of an encounter proves that there are more Palparans still running loose, victimizing militarized communities, unchecked by the AFP.” Tinio called on officials of the 16th and 59th IB to surface the six and demanded accountability from those responsible. He said these Army units are notorious among the residents of their places of assignment for cases of human rights violations....The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in Rizal, in the meantime, also issued a statement denouncing the AFP, saying that the teacher’s abduction “is a cowardly act and a clear violation of human rights and international war protocols which mandates that civilians should be not be treated as combatants with all their rights respected.”.....

http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/11/14/teacher-five-others-abducted-by-soldiers-in-rizal-province/print/

1 comment:

  1. ACT Teacher's Party is a CPP-associated party-list political party that is part of the CPP-linked Makabayan political coalition. The level of protest/defense displayed by CPP legal front organzations as well as the clandestine CPP political organ, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, would strongly suggest that Lanie Latuga and her associates are probably members of the insurgent infrastructure.

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