Soldiers made us say we’re NPA, villagers claim
Residents of a village in Compostela Valley have filed a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights accusing members of the Army’s 71st Infantry Battalion of storming their community and forcing them to admit to being communist rebels.
In a statement, the human rights group Karapatan said a group of soldiers, led by a Sergeant Macalanda and a Sergeant Mabalot, came to Barangay (village) Tibagon in Pantukan earlier this month and occupied the village and several houses without permission from the owners. The soldiers were in full combat gear and carried high-powered firearms.
Karapatan quoted Herculano Sumilhig, an officer of the Cadapa, Tin-aw, Lubog Farmers Association, as saying that the soldiers interrogated the villagers, forcing them to admit that they were members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA).
The villagers denied they were NPA members. Sumilhig said the villagers were farmers.
One complainant, Nellyn Calva, said the villagers were forced to sign blank pieces of paper and were asked about some people whose names were shown to them on a list. Some of those people were their neighbors.
The villagers said they were holding a meeting at Sitio (sub-village) Sapant Tin-Aw on their being beneficiaries of the government’s conditional cash transfer program when the soldiers arrived. They said Macalanda took over the meeting and interrogated those present. They were accused of being NPA members.
Article continues after this advertisement77 families flee
Article continues after this advertisementMaria Lou Lambo, a preschool teacher, said the soldiers claimed her school was built by the NPA. It was not, she said. The school was accredited by the barangay and by the Department of Education, and it followed the Early Childhood Care and Development Program. She said Macalanda became angry and cursed at the villagers.
A Karapatan team who came to the aid of the villagers did not escape harassment.
The team was stopped at a checkpoint and held for 15 minutes for interrogation, according to Karapatan Southern Mindanao spokesperson Jurie Jayme.
Jayme said in a press statement that many of the frightened villagers left their homes to seek sanctuary with their relatives. He said the military was hamletting the village and frightened residents were leaving. Seventy-seven families, consisting of 304 individuals, have left the village since March 18, Jayme said.
The commander of the 71st IB, Lieutenant Colonel Camilio Ligayo, said the villagers may have misunderstood the way Macalanda, whose full name was Sergeant Isagani Macalanda, stated the troops’ purpose for coming to Tibagon.
Ligayo said the troops went there to carry out the military’s peace and development program. There were no complaints of physical abuse, he said. Nevertheless, Macalanda has been replaced as leader of the peace and development team in Tibagon.
The villagers may bring complaints to the military, Ligayo said. “We are open to complaints, that’s why we replaced Macalanda,” he said.
