From the Sun Star-Bacolod (Nov 8): Family calls for thorough investigation on kin’s slay
THE family of a slain resident of Barangay Bagong Silang in Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, is calling for a thorough investigation of the incident.
Robert Selendrun, 21, who went fishing in the river at nearby Barangay Pinowayan with his brother and uncle, was reportedly killed in a shooting incident last month.
His mother Rosalie Dulman, 41, in a press conference at Negros Press Club in Bacolod City Tuesday, November 7, said they are calling on authorities to investigate the killing.
Dulman, who was accompanied by some of her neighbors, appealed for justice as she insisted that his son or their other family members are not members of a rebel group.
“Nagapanulo lang ang bata ko sang isda upod ang iya manghod kag tiyo sang hinali lang sila ginpaniro sang tatlo ka armado nga kalalakihan nga katapo sang RPA-ABB (My son was just catching fish with his brother and uncle when they were suddenly shot by three armed men who are members of RPA-ABB)," the mother said.
Military reports earlier showed that members of Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) led by a certain Alejandro Traya conducted patrol at the vicinity of Barangay Pinowayan.
They then encountered about 20 men with high-powered firearms led by Glen Saldoa and Julito Tanoco along the Tangkongan river at the boundary of Barangays Pinowayan and Bagong Silang around 6:40 p.m.
A firefight ensued for about 15 minutes and a certain Godofredo Bayog- ang, along with 13 members of RPA-ABB reinforced Traya's group, it said.
Reports further said that there were four fatalities and one wounded on the part of the private armed group. However, no bodies were retrieved.
Colonel Eliezer Losañes, commander of 303rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, had said they are verifying the reported four casualties in the encounter.
The police said they retrieved the body of Selendron from the encounter site near the river. However, they have yet to determine if the victim was a member of either group.
The Northern Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (NNAHRA) claimed that there was no “legitimate encounter” between armed and rebel groups at the area.
It also dismissed allegations that Selendron is a member of the New People's Army (NPA).
Rey Alburo, secretary general of NNAHRA, who was also at the press conference, said “one of the three RPA members who shot the victim is a distant relative of the Selendrons thus, they can recognize the group."
Alburo also said that since the incident happened, the investigation has not progressed
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/bacolod/local-news/2017/11/08/family-calls-thorough-investigation-kins-slay-573651
The Northern Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (NNAHRA) is a Communist Party of the Philippines regional human rights front group and is affiliated with the main CPP umbrella human rights front organization KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights).
ReplyDeleteNNAHRa's involvement in this incident lends credence to assertions that Robert Selendrun was a member of the clandestine New People's Army, the military of the CPP and that the incident was in fact a legitimate encounter.
CPP human rights front groups routinely attempt to discredit the Philippine military and its local allies on human rights issues by claiming that those killed in legitimate encounters between the military and the NPA are just simple peasants and not insurgents.