Reports reaching Manila indicated that a "quick reaction mission" of 75 individuals, led by staff from the Southern Tagalog branch of the human rights alliance Karapatan and dispatched to Barangay Puray, in the town of Rodriguez, Rizal was unable to accomplish its objective due to the reported preemptive presence of military elements in the area.
According to an advisory issued by Karapatan, the team was on foot, starting off at 11 a.m. of March 3, 2017.
It was organized to look into initial reports that two Dumagat farmers were killed in the course of military operations on March 2 involving elements of the Philippine Army 2nd Infantry Division near Barangay Puray.
As the team made its way into the afternoon, they received reports of continuing military presence nearby.
According to Karapatan Southern Tagalog, the QRM team received information that soldiers were poised to confront them at Sitio Dapis. The buzz from the community was that they should reconsider pushing on due to the military presence in the area and along the QRM's route.
The team decided to seek refuge in a school house at Sitio Quinaw, Brgy. Puray for the night.
The party reported feeling alarmed throughout the night, as they observed military presence around the school, hearing footsteps and seeing light teams being flashed in the areas surrounding the school and community. They couldn't report by mobile phone as signal was weak in the area, the Karapatan advisory related.
In the morning of March 4, the team was advised by barangay officials and residents to discontinue their trip to Sitio Dapis, as the soldiers were waiting for them there.
"They, instead, documented reports and narratives from residents at nearby Sitio Quinaw, and started their trek back to Montalban town proper, gravely considering the safety of those in the QRM."
On their way back, soldiers reportedly "continued to hover around their path, as residents in the area have continuously reported to them."
"The QRM members were able to reestablish contact with Karapatan regional and national offices by 9 p.m. of March 4. All 75 members of mission are safe and accounted for."
Karapatan staff from its Southern Tagalog and Rizal chapters intend to continue looking into reports of apparent human rights violations in line with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) counter-insurgency program, Oplan Kapayapaan.
http://interaksyon.com/article/137471/preempted--military-presence-totters-human-rights-fact-finding-in-montalban
Just more apocryphal tales of the supposed harassment of KARAPATAN officials by Philippine military soldiers during their "fact-finding" mission to Rodriguez town, Rizal province.
ReplyDeleteKARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) is a Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) umbrella human rights front organization. The main goal of the group is to discredit the government and Philippine military on human rights-related issues.
There is no evidence the Philippine military harassed this so-called fact-finding mission or that the military had violated anyone's human rights. What we have are alleged reports from locals about military activities in the area that contributed to members of KARAPATAN "feeling alarmed" over the military presence. KARAPATAN officials had no direct confrontation with soldiers during their excursion. Instead these officials decided to spin their "feelings" into a false propaganda narrative against the military.
No surprise though, because this is what KARAPATAN does. As a result, one should view any human rights statistics/reports along with any allegations of wrong doing leveled against military units with a great deal of skepticism.