CPP: Military 'twisting facts' over alleged abuses vs. lumad

From GMA News (Jul 24): CPP: Military 'twisting facts' over alleged abuses vs. lumad

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on Tuesday slammed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for allegedly "twisting facts" while trying to cover up military abuses in the evacuation of thousands of Lumads in Surigao del Sur.

In a news release, the communist group hit AFP Public Affairs Office chief Colonel Noel Detoyato for "dismissing the suffering and hardships of the evacuees by claiming they are only being used in the 'bakwit tactics' of the New People's Army (NPA)."

According to CPP, Detoyato issued the statement after reports revealed that soldiers have been conducting food, aid, and information blockades at Diatagon Gym in Lianga, Surigao del Sur, where about 1,600 Lumad residents are staying after evacuating from their communities in the previous weeks.

"Detoyato, furthermore, is twisting facts for claiming that government food aid have not reached the Lumad evacuees because these are being blocked by the revolutionary forces, when in fact, AFP soldiers are the ones manning checkpoints near Diatagon Gym to prevent aid agencies from getting near the evacuees. Such impertinence!” the CPP said.

"Fascist soldiers of the AFP are not only terrorizing communities but are also making a thousand evacuees suffer more from hunger because of the food and aid blockades they are imposing," the CPP added.

The CPP claimed that Diatagon residents had marched for about 10 hours from their sitios to the barangay center to seek safe haven from military attacks last July 16.

The evacuation of those residents was the fourth time since martial law was imposed last year in Mindanao, the communist group added.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/661608/cpp-military-twisting-facts-over-alleged-abuses-vs-lumad/story/