Kalinaw News: NPA combatant remains treated with respect, contrary to solon mother’s claims

Posted to Kalinaw News (Nov 30, 2020): NPA combatant remains treated with respect, contrary to solon mother’s claims

Children of Rep. Cullamat with the 3SFBn personnel

In a recent statement proliferated by Online News-Media platforms, Bayan-Muna Representative Eufemia Cullamat condemns the Army saying, “Mariin kong kinokondena ang ginawang pambabastos at pambababoy sa labi ng aking anak.” This is in response to the recent news about the Army’s 3rd Special Forces Battalion’s encounter with the NPA’s SYP Platoon, Guerilla Force 19 which led to her daughter, Jevilyn Campos Cullamat’s demise.

Eufemia Cullamat’s initial statement comprises her admission that she knew that her daughter would eventually join the NPA and considers the possibility that one day, she would die a martyr, but a day later, the solon shifted gears and turned to cry wolf on what happened to her daughter and called-out the 3SFBn for an alleged unfair and inhumane treatment of her daughter’s body.

Upon learning of Eufemia Cullamat’s statement, 3SFBn released a detailed description and timeline of how they handled her daughter’s lifeless body that was neglected by the latter’s comrades who fled away from the encounter site.

On November 29, 2020, 6 o’clock in the morning, soldiers from the encounter site jumped-off with Jevilyn’s remains on a stretcher and transferred it to a Casualty Collection Point. From the casualty collection point, the soldiers presented the cadaver to the Brgy Officials of San Isidro for proper identification and documentation at 12:00 noon. No one from the community recognized Jevilyn until she was presented to former rebels from the 401st Brigade at 12:20 noon of the same day. Only then was she confirmed to be the daughter of solon, Eufemia Cullamat. After establishing the cadaver’s identity, a post-mortem exam was conducted.

At 4:00 in the afternoon, Jevilyn’s remains were turned over to her sister Jesrin Cullamat. Her half-sister Jenjen Valle and grandmother were also present to receive her body. Thirty minutes later, soldiers from the 3SFBn escorted the family to Dollete Funeral Homes Barobo for the funeral services. At 09:00 that night, the body was brought to her half-sister’s home at Brgy Banahaw, Lianga, Surigao del Sur where the wake was held.

The following day, the Army coordinated with the town’s Mayor, Novelita Sarmen, for the neutralized rebel’s burial assistance. Commanders and officials of the 401st Infantry Brigade personally visited the wake and extended their condolences. Soldiers facilitated the procurement of financial assistance to settle the funeral expenses of Jevilyn.

After serving as a combatant for the NPA terrorist group, Jevilyn’s body was left to rot at the encounter site. However, military protocol requires soldiers to scour the area for casualties, dead or alive, friend or foe, to tend to their wounds and/or to give the dead ones proper burial in the absence of a claimant. During the course of the first day from the encounter, Jevilyn Cullamat’s body was treated by the Philippine Army the same way as any other NPA member who died in an encounter, with respect.

Public interest have been building up to this day, following a series of Senate Hearing on the affiliations of Bayan Muna, which Rep. Eufemia Cullamat represents, and other Makabayan Bloc Partylists with the terrorist organization NPA. Any public official like Representative Cullamat is subject to public scrutiny especially on the issue of her allegiance with the CPP NPA NDF.

There are series of encounters to which the Philippine Army has neutralized enemy forces and claimed victory over terrorist groups who are trying to wreak havoc, most of the times, within a small vulnerable community. These victories are not claimed by the Philippine Army alone, but with the people victimized by the NPA, and the people the soldiers sworn to protect.

Children of Rep. Cullamat with the 3SFBn personnel

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https://www.kalinawnews.com/npa-combatant-remains-treated-with-respect-contrary-to-solon-mothers-claims/