For days, the Aquino government’s reactionary officials feasted on the Philippine Army 1001st Brigade’s fabricated story that the New People’s Army (NPA) had taken scores of miners and their families hostage in
Teresita Deles of the Office of the Presidential Assistant
on the Peace Process and Corazon “Dinky” Soliman of the Department of Social
Welfare and Development even joined in the chorus by airing condemnations and
appeals to the NPA to stop using civilians as human shields.
In reality, no hostage-taking took place. The 1001st Brigade
merely manufactured lies to cover up its mounting battle casualties, its own
human rights violations and its protection of foreign destructive mining
operations.
According to Ka Daniel Ibarra, spokesperson of the
Comval-Davao Gulf Subregional Command, the military forcefully evicted small
miners, Lumad and peasants from the streams and other areas within Apex Mining
Company’s concession in Maco and threatened that their communities would be
bombed. Terrified, the miners had no choice but to abandon their houses and
livelihood.
The 1001st Bde expelled the small miners to enable Apex
Mining to operate unencumbered using open-pit mining, which caused massive
landslides that killed several people in the area and erased Barangay Mainit
from Maco’s map in 2012.
On the other hand, Red fighters launched three ambushes on
the mining giant’s soldier-protectors between April 12 and May 5, killing 23
soldiers and wounding five others from the 71st IB, 9th IB and Division
Reconnaissance Company (DRC).
Eleven soldiers were killed in an ambush mounted by Red
fighters on patrolling elements of the 71st IB in Sitio Panganasun, Barangay
Napnapan, Pantukan. On April 13, Red guerrillas ambushed a DRC
unit along the Maco-Maragusan border, killing eight and wounding two fascists.
The day before, four troops under the 9th IB were killed and three others
wounded when Red fighters waylaid them at the Apex Tenement Complex in Masara,
Maco.
Before these offensives, the NPA
punished Apex Mining on April 10 for its violations of the laws and policies of
the People’s Democratic Government against the destruction of the environment
and the oppression of the peasant masses and the mining company’s own workers
in Barangay Masara. The NPA destroyed 18 vehicles and
pieces of machinery in five tunnels. (See related
article in Ang Bayan’s April 21, 2014 issue)
In retaliation, the 1001st Bde poured in 800 troops or two
battalions to sow terror and further protect Apex Mining and its owners, among
them Enrique Razon (the fourth wealthiest man in the Philippines and a major
contributor to Aquino’s election campaign), to the detriment of Lumad farmers,
small miners and the company’s workers. Apex also used hired goons under the
Mongoose Security Agency to harass the lowly paid workers who are in danger of
losing their jobs under the company’s retrenchment program in June. The
military likewise disseminated lists of alleged active leaders targeted for
arrest and imprisonment.
Meanwhile, in Paquibato District, three soldiers under the
69th IB were killed and six others were wounded by a command-detonated explosive
while they were on patrol in May 17. It was the NPA’s fourth attritive action
against the 69th IB since January.
[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]
http://www.philippinerevolution.net/publications/ang_bayan/20140521/1001st-brigade-concocts-hostage-drama-in-comval
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.