The Philippine Army on Tuesday denied reports on the
presence of their men inside the building and premises of a school in New
Bataan town, Compostela Valley province as alleged by the group Save Our School
Network in Southern Mindanao Region (SOSN-SMR).
During Wednesday’s AFP-PNP Press Corp, the spokesperson of
the 10th Infantry (Agila) Division, Captain Rhyan Batchar, said the command had
noted with grave concern the allegations made by SOSN-SMR and immediately
directed the 67th and 66th Infantry Battalions to explain the accusation.
On Monday, August 22, the SOSN-SMR alleged, as posted in its
Facebook account, that soldiers belonging to 67th and 66th IBs were encamping
inside the school building in Barangay Pagsabangan, New Bataan since Saturday,
August 20.
The SOSN-SMR added that soldiers were also staying in
community households 10 meters away from the school premises in Barangay
Panansalan, Compostela town.
Batchar said that the 67th IB denied the accusation made by
SOSN-SMR, saying that the command has no soldiers in said barangay because it
is already outside their area of operations.
In a statement, the 67th IB said that the allegations were
unfounded, baseless and malicious.
On the other hand, the 66th IB also responded to the inquiry
of the 10th ID denying the accusation, stating that their forces were staying
in Purok 3, Barangay Panansalan, Compostela town.
According to Batchar, the stay of the soldiers has the
permission of Purok Chairman Artemio Magno, who confirmed that the soldiers
stayed in an area which is distant from the school and households.
“Other documents provided by 66th IB and signed by Purok Chairman
Rex Basta and Purok Secretary Nerisa Gollodo stated that the troops were
allowed by the Purok Chairman and the residents to enter and rest at Sitio
Bongloy, Barangay Pagsabangan,” Batchar said.
He added that another document, issued by Purok Secretary
Gollodo stated that the same troops did not occupy the Salugpungan School
A picture provided by 66th IB showed the said Salugpungan
school at a distance of about 100 meters from the position of the soldiers
where the picture was taken, he added.
“As we have always said, the 10th ID welcomes reports
against our troops and encourages those who were victimized to file their
complaints in appropriate agencies as we do not tolerate any misbehavior by our
soldiers,” Batchar said.
He added that the command has time and again called on
affiliated organizations to the National Democratic Front in Southern Mindanao
Region (NDF-SMR) to go beyond mere propaganda by filing charges against
misbehaving troops so that the 10th ID can purge its ranks of misfits.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=916736
The Save Our Schools Network (SOSN) is a Communist Party of the Philippines-linked front organization that has been in the vanguard of establishing what the military calls "NPA schools" in the lumad areas of Northern and Eastern Mindanao. These schools seek to indoctrinate lumad youth into the basic communist world view, inculcate anti-government attitudes, and identify potential recruits for the New People's Army, the military wing of the CPP.
ReplyDeleteThe group has been a major participant in CPP-associated propaganda/disinformation campaigns directed against military units operating in contested areas against the Maoist insurgents.