Amid allegations of human rights violations committed by
some military personnel, the spokesman of the Eastern Mindanao Command
(EastMinCom) hit militant groups on Wednesday, calling their
accusations as “black propaganda” to make the government appear that it is not
doing its part in addressing the concerns of the lumads in the hinterlands.
Capt. Alberto Caber, chief of the EastMinCom’s Public
Information Office (PIO), said during the AFP/PNP press conference at the
Garden by the Bay here that the militants want to derail the operations of the
military and the delivery of government services to the far-flung areas where
the lumads live.
He called the “black propaganda” initiated by leftists that
hype up human rights violations as their “way of life.”
“There is no problem with the entry of the Army to the
communities. The problem is when these are infiltrated by the New People’s Army
(NPA),” he said.
The presence of the rebel forces in the communities, Caber
claimed, hamper government services from reaching the indigenous people.
He said that before the Army enters lumad communities, they
hold consultations and get the approval of the local government units (LGUs),
including the mayors.
Gabriela-Southern Mindanao spokesperson Mary Ann Sapar said
militant groups are not putting down the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
but the actions committed by some of their officers.
“Data show how the military abuse the lumads. For example,
who raped ‘Tess,’ the 14-year-old lumad in Talaingod? Isn’t the soldiers? How
about ‘Jessa’ in Bukidnon?” she asked.
Sapar added that militant groups are there to be watchdogs
of the abuses “committed by the AFP so that lumads will live peacefully in
their ancestral land away from fear.”
League of Filipino Students (LFS) Southern Mindanao Region
spokesperson Joyce Pepetua lamented that the Army calls itself as promoters of
peace and development.
“We condemn the AFP’s brutal acts and attack on Lumads. They
can’t be called as the Army that promotes ‘peace and development’ but
warmongers and chaos-starters,” she said.
Pepetua called on President Benigno Aquino III, as the chief
of the AFP, to step down.
She said they are going to White Culaman in Kitaotao,
Bukidnon to join the “Help! Kitaotao Bukidnon Humanitarian and Peace Mission”
to validate and document human rights violations reported. Pepetua allege that
on Aug. 26, the Army’s 8th and 23rd Infantry Battalions ransacked a lumad
community and detained civilians.
She claimed there have been 58 lumads killed and 20,000
lumad peasants forcibly evacuated since 2010 due to military operations.
“The AFP could lie through their teeth but beyond
statistics, lumads stories of anguish will tell the truth. These are not mere
black propaganda but a call to stop the killing and the human rights
violations,” Pepetua stressed.
Sheena Duazo, secretary general of Bayan Southern Mindanao
Region, said that the military’s denial of the human violations is a move to
evade from the issue.
“The militant support groups are in the forefront of
exposing human rights violations perpetrated by the military and its paramilitary
groups, that is why the AFP is trying to silence and discredit militants in
order to confuse and deceive the public. It is a desperate attempt to hide the
truth,” she added.
Duazo alleged the AFP’s Oplan Bayanihan has displaced lumads
from their ancestral domains and even killed some of them to allegedly protect
the interests of foreign and large mining companies.
“Aquino’s government through AFP unleashed its monstrous
attack against the lumads who are defending their ancestral lands. The exodus of
thousands of lumads in Mindanao is a form of
resistance, a movement with historical significance as they, the lumads, assert
their rights against development aggressions and modern ethnocide,” Duazo
added.
Teachers from schools run by lumad organizations in Davao
del Norte, during the congressional hearing on human rights last month,
demanded for pullout of military forces and disbandment of paramilitary group
called “Alamara.”
However, Caber reiterated that their troops assigned in the
lumad communities cannot be pulled out because they are there to protect the
villagers and government projects from the NPA.
http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2015/09/16/accusations-of-human-rights-violations-a-black-propaganda-military/
All of the groups cited above are Mindanao chapters of well-established Communist Party of the Philippines front organizations. GABRIELA and the LFS, are members of the multisectoral umbrella front group, BAYAN. The goal of these groups is in fact to discredit the Philippine military by whatever means necessary including misinformation, disinformation, lies and deception.
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