Davao City. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Rights group Hustisya demanded the pull-out of the 69th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in Southern Mindanao, calling them “massacre troops” after the killing of an indigenous people leader, a purok (small village) leader and a farmer, while wounding a child and a woman farmer leader in Paquibato District, Davao City on June 14.
In a protest action infront of the AFP Headquarters, Camp Aguinaldo this morning, the group together with Karapatan, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and KATRIBU, cried out justice for the victims, identified by Karapatan Southern Mindanao as Ruben Enlog, a datu (tribal leader) of Ata Manobos in Sitio Manipis, farmer Garyo Quimbo and Randy Carnasa, a purok leader in the community.
“We cry out for justice for the victims. No words are enough to condemn this massacre. The massacre troops of the AFP, which falsely accused the victims as NPA members, should be pulled out in Mindanao. They will never cease to sow terror in the communities as long as the Aquino government allows these butchers in uniform to kill and silence people,” said Cristina Guevarra, Hustisya secretary general.
According to reports from human rights groups in the region, more than 55 battalions of the AFP are deployed in Mindanao under Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan. This is equivalent to almost 60 percent of the total number of AFP troops.
“There should be an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation on this massacre. We shall demand justice on this case along with the many cases in the past until these promoted Palparan-Aquino generals be brought behind bars.
Allowing human rights violators to prevail with impunity is tantamount to letting the cries of justice of the victims fall on deaf ears,” Guevarra said.
The 69th IBPA is under the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army under the command of Gen. Eduardo Año. Under the Macapagal-Arroyo regime, Año was implicated in the abduction of peasant organizer Jonas Burgos.
The said military unit was also tagged as the “Palparan battalion,” with its elements previously under the command and training of retired Gen. Jovito Palparan, now charged before the courts for the disappearance of University of the Philippines students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan in Bulacan in the year 2006.
“The huge deployment of troops in Mindanao is meant to kill and silence the people in the region. With only a year in power, we will not let Pres. Aquino and his minions in the military go unpunished. The trail of blood of Aquino’s bloody straight path will follow them everywhere,” said Guevarra.
http://bicoltoday.com/2015/06/18/rights-group-demands-pull-out-of-massacre-troops-in-mindanao/
The commies continue their propaganda/disinformation campaign to characterize what has been previously reported in the media as an encounter between Philippine soldiers and NPA rebels as a "massacre" of innocent civilians.
ReplyDeleteHustisya (Justice), the group that has demanded the pull out of the army's 69th Infantry Battalion, is a CPP human rights front and a member of the main CPP umbrella human rights organization KARAPATAN (Rights).
The encounter occurred in the Paquibato District of Davao City, a stronghold of the NPA under the leadership of Commander Parago (Leoncio Pitao). The military has been engaged in a number of projects in the area under the counterinsurgency program OPLAN Bayanihan. The objective of these Bayanihan efforts is undermine local support for the NPA by establishing a government presence and providing basic services to the indigenous population.
This has brought the military into direct conflict not only with the NPA but with CPP/NPA front organizations that have a robust presence in the area as evidence by the propaganda efforts of KARAPATAN, Hustisya and other front groups to discredit and undermine local support for the Philippine military.
As an added note: Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP- Peasant Movement of the Philippines) and KATRIBU (Tribesmen) who participated in the protest action with KARAPATAN at Camp Aguinaldo, are also CPP front organizations.