'Pablo' fact-finding mission stranded by 'military harassment'

From InterAksyon (Apr 20): 'Pablo' fact-finding mission stranded by 'military harassment'

Members of a fact-finding mission looking into the murder of a community leader and alleged irregularities in the delivery of relief to victims of typhoon “Pablo” were stranded Saturday night in a hinterland village of Baganga, Davao Oriental because of what they described as military harassment.

Among the 69 members of the mission are five journalists -- one from Manila-based Pinoy Weekly, another from Davao Today, two from Kilab Multimedia and a columnist of SunStar -- nuns, doctors, psycho-social therapist, scientists and human rights workers.

Reached by phone, Francis Morales, executive director of Balsa Mindanao, one of the mission organizers, said they were forced to spend Saturday night in Sitio Cabuyao in Barangay Binondo after the drivers of the trucks they were supposed to take back to Baganga proper abandoned their vehicles.

He said they were informed that soldiers of the 67th Infantry Battalion had “harassed” and scared off the drivers, “who had been waiting for us.”

InterAksyon is trying to contact the military for comment.

Morales said they had only enough food and water for the night and were worried about where to get provisions if there were any more delays on Sunday.

Marilou Tuburan of Davao Today said the village they were staying in was half a day’s walk from the town center and between two troop concentrations, one an hour’s walk away, the other about two hours’ walk distance.

Although Morales said they had not been directly threatened, “there are so many checkpoints” at which they were held at length since they started the mission on April 18.

“On April 19 alone, we had to go through five checkpoints,” he said.

Aside from this, Morales said they had to clear logs and rocks residents had informed them had been placed on the roads by soldiers, apparently to block their way.

“At one point, the road was actually dug up,” he said.

Among the mission’s objectives is to investigate the death of Cristina Morales Jose, a councilwoman of Binondo and a leader of Barug Katawhan, an organization of Pablo survivors form Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.

She was gunned down on March 4, about a week after she joined Pablo survivors who staged protests at the Department of Social Welfare and Development office in Davao City over what they said was the delayed and anomalous delivery of relief.

The mission is also looking into reports that the distribution of relief goods is being used by some politicians to boost their candidacy in the May 13 elections.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/59899/pablo-fact-finding-mission-stranded-by-military-harassment