PA denies hit list against Lumad advocates

From the Philippine News Agency (Sep 19): PA denies hit list against Lumad advocates

The Philippine Army (PA) on Saturday strongly denied claims that the military has a hit-list against known Lumad advocates.

"The PA denied today (Saturday) with a strong statement the allegations of having an AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) hit list against Lumad advocates," PA spokesperson Col. Benjamin Hao said.

He added the allegation is merely a figment of the accusers’ imagination.

"There is no such thing as hit list in the AFP. Everybody knows that only the New People’s Army is making a hit list," Hao stressed.

"The AFP is the protector of the Filipino people, whatever his or her social, political or economic leaning is," the PA chief further said.

Human rights advocates, legislators and relatives of the late labor leader Crispin Beltran on Friday earlier sought protection from the Supreme Court after a hit list containing the names of 70 activists in Mindanao and leaders of progressive groups surfaced.

Assisted by their counsels from the National Union of People's Lawyers, the members of the various groups and party-list lawmakers filed writs of amparo and habeas data before the High Court in Manila, decrying threats to their "life, liberty and security" with the existence of a hit list.

The petitioners alleged that hit list was attached to a criminal complaint by the AFP and Philippine National Police on charges of kidnapping, serious illegal detention, and human trafficking.

The crimes were allegedly committed against some evacuees from Lumad communities in Davao Del Norte and Bukidnon.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=805890