Agusan Sur villagers troop to capitol to appeal for military withdrawal

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur— With little children in tow and braving more than one day of long, hard journey from their remote villages in Loreto town, more than a thousand residents camped out at the covered court at the provincial capitol since Friday as they asked the provincial government to facilitate the pullout of military troops from their strife-torn communities.

The Provincial Crisis Management Committee (PCMC) did not grant that request, however, reasoning out that only the national government could effect the pullout of any Army unit from an area.

Instead, it came up with an alternative solution to make the villages of Sta. Teresa, Kauswagan, Sabud, and Sto.Nino “zones of peace,” where Army soldiers and communist rebels would be prohibited from going within 1,000 meters of the communities.

Josefina Bajade, member of the secretariat of the crisis management committee, said Army representatives, who attended the crisis management meeting, had agreed to the alternative solution.

Bajade said the PCMC had also asked the villagers to return to their homes as no soldier would be allowed to set up post within 500 meters of the villages.

“We are just ironing out some minor kinks as we are preparing a written commitment to secure the affected residents should they agree to return home,” she said.

Richard Lumapay, chair of the nongovernment organization Kahugpungan Alang sa Kalamboan  Inc., said residents of four villages in Loreto town, who have been affected by the heightened armed conflict, decided to call for the pullout of soldiers because they had been engaged in indiscriminate firing especially at night.

“The farmers were already scared to go to their farms and the children no longer attend classes because of these,” Lumapay said, adding that the villagers had opted to live in evacuation centers.

He said the recent hostilities between Army soldiers and New People’s Army (NPA) rebels had turned the communities into “no man’s lands.”

“We asked provincial officials to let soldiers stay away from the communities so that civilians would not be caught in the crossfire,” Lumapay said.

Aside from being allegedly harassed, residents have also been complaining that Army soldiers have been listing their identities through the conduct of census and that they were also being constantly watched.

But the military countered the residents’ claims saying it was the NPA that  had been causing the difficulties the civilians had been experiencing.

This was backed by Loreto Mayor Dario Otaza, who accused the NPA of instigating the armed conflict in the villages.

Otaza said the hostilities stepped up after the arrest of two teen NPA combatants, who were about to stage an ambush during a funeral procession being secured by soldiers from the 26th Infantry Battalion.

But Manobo tribal leader Datu Waswasan said the arrest and eventual mauling of the two teenagers by Bagani militiamen made the situation worse as it caused more fear among civilians. Chris Panganiban, Inquirer Mindanao