|
Human rights group hits military 'coercion'
The
Carmen-based 302nd Brigade under Col. Cesar Yano is accused
of "sowing terror" among residents of barangay Rizal,
Batuan to silence the people, Karapatan said in a statement
furnished the Chronicle.
Yano's
troops conducted the seminar last week in the barangay where
the RMG camp was allegedly raided by New People's Army years
back.
The
statement signed by its head Liza Serenio pointed out that
Yano and Lt. Col. Porlucas of the 79th Infantry Battalion
are pushing to establish the so-called Barangay Defense System
(BDS) and "had been forcing the barangay residents to
attend to a seminar" relative to BDS.
BDS
is a counter-insurgency measure introduced by then general
Jovito Palparan, tagged as the verdugo for disappearances
of progressive and militant workers in his areas of assignment.
|
|
|
Karapatan
alleged that barangay residents "aged 16 years
old and above are coercively made as civilian guards
24 hours a day. Those who will disobey or failed to
cooperate were told that they will automatically be
considered members or sympathizers of the New People's
Army."
The
barangay folks are also warned by Yano's men that if
they don't cooperate to do the BDS "their birthdays
might be transferred to November 1 or 2." This
has sowed fear as residents think they might be killed
by the military, Serenio said.
|
Karapatan
said that Yano was present during the seminar and took turns
of lambasting the Karapatan and even "tore the fact sheet
of human rights violations it presented to him.
"Militaries
are supposed protectors of the people, but how can we embrace
their presence and our security if they continue to torture
the minds of our brothers and sisters and spread terror across
our community," Karapatan asked.
Karapatan
said that it condemned the acts of the military's "fascist
and dictatorial conduct," saying that the Boholano people
cannot allow terror to reign be it Palparan or Col. Yano.
Karapatan
was present during the early hours of the BDS briefing-seminar
but it had to leave because the "team was threatened
by Sgt. Abarri's statement that if the Karapatan team would
not voluntarily leave, they will forcibly be taken out of
the seminar by the people themselves."
The
Chronicle tried but failed to contact yesterday Mayor Gregoria
Pepito and councilor Antonino Jumawid for comment. The mayor
was said to have attended a certain meeting in the barangay
while the councilor was out of his residence in the city.
It also tried but failed to contact Yano for comment.
The
mayor's husband Francisco Pepito, however, denied the report
that Rizal folks were "forced and terrorized" by
the way the BDS was conducted. He said in a phone interview
that Karapatan's claim may not be true because it were the
barangay residents who wanted the group to be out of their
area during the seminar.
In
a separate interview, SP01 Algerico Agape confirmed the military
action in setting up the BDS and could confirm the allegations
hurled by Karapatan against the military.
Karapatan
has documented the incident in Rizal for coercion, harassment
and intimidation with the motive of using the civilians as
human shield for the safety of the military assigned there.
It
also made record of the cases against the military of using
the schools. Medical and religious and other public places
for military purposes endangering the civilians by erecting
their camps near the said places in barangay Dagohoy, Bilar
town. (RVO)
|
