CITY OF SAN FERNANDO ? The military?s campaign against communist rebels in Aurora has sown fear among residents and discredited the Catholic Church and priests there, the Prelature of Infanta in Aurora said in a pastoral statement read at the start of Christmas dawn Masses on Dec. 16.

In a statement sent by e-mail to the Inquirer on Wednesday, the prelature said soldiers have been inspecting buses traveling along the Dinalungan-Casiguran-Dilasag route in northern Aurora, ordering passengers to alight for inspections. The same is done among passengers in Maria Aurora town.

Evacuation

In Barangay Umiray at the boundary of Dingalan, Aurora and General Nakar, Quezon, residents cannot leave their village unless they get a permit from the military, the statement said.

In Casiguran and Dingalan, residents of upland villages have evacuated on the orders of soldiers as they pursue New People?s Army rebels in the mountains.

?Because of the staunch campaign of the military against the NPA, it has taken a long time before the villagers can return to their farmlands or provide food to their families,? said part of the three-page statement signed by 10 priests in Aurora and noted by Infanta Bishop Rolando Tria Tirona.

They said soldiers have also set up camps in 16 villages of Dipaculao, occupying barangay halls or health centers.

?Soldiers also told our catechists and church volunteers to stop serving the Church or to stop believing in our priests because they are supporters of the NPA and communists. Our own bishop has been included in the list of suspected supporters,? they said.

?All these actions sow fear among the people and spread wrong notions about the Church and priests. Human rights should be respected,? they said.

Army job

Col. Natalio Jayson, commander of the Army?s 48th Infantry Battalion in Aurora, called the activities of soldiers as part of their normal security checkup.

Jayson said the military intended to clear Aurora of rebels and was doing this with respect for human rights.

The Multi-Sectoral Action Group of Aurora has asked the Commission on Human Rights to order the military to close its camp in the capital town of Baler, pull out its troops in the villages and investigate five cases of alleged human rights violations.

The pastoral statement also assailed the ?wrong process,? mainly the lack of consultation with the people, in the establishment of the 500-hectare Aurora Special Economic Zone in the villages of Dibet, Esteves and Dibacong in Casiguran.

?The areas are occupied by legitimate settlers or farmers? We are bothered?whose progress will this [economic zone] serve?? they asked.

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said consultations had been done before the law creating the economic zone was passed. Some families are being relocated now, he said.