Soldiers seen in abduction of tribesman

Lucena City—A member of the Agta-Dumagat tribe in the island town of Burdeos, Quezon was abducted by 10 armed men on August 23 and has been missing since then.

Catholic priest Fr. Pete Montallana identified the missing native as Rogemer “Demer” Morada, 20, a known help-for-hire in the village of Bonifacio in Burdeos.

The priest said he went to the island town recently and was told that Morada’s abductors, all armed with rifles, had identified themselves to the tribal community as New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.

“But the tribe was not convinced. The natives believed that the armed men were not real communist guerrillas but actually government soldiers even if they were not in military uniform,” Montallana said in a phone interview.

Montallana, who is assigned to the Prelature of Infanta, is famous for his environmental work in the Sierra Madre mountain range and for helping the Agta-Dumagat tribal community get access to basic services and preserve their culture and tradition.

Lt. Col. Ed Peralta, commander of the Army’s 76th Infantry Brigade operating in northern Quezon, said he has ordered the commanding officer of troops assigned to the Polillo Group of Islands to submit a report.

“I want to double check it,” Peralta said in a phone interview.

The Inquirer sent a text message to Peralta on Friday asking for the report but he has yet to give a reply.

Montallana said armed men forcibly took Morada from his house in Bonifacio in the morning of Aug. 23 and took him to the village of Rizal. At dawn the next day, the group left the area with Morada.

“Until now Demer has not come back to his family,” the priest said.

Montallana e-mailed scanned handwritten affidavits of four tribesmen in Burdeos narrating their account of the abduction. They all claimed that the armed men were soldiers, not rebels.

One of the tribesmen said he saw Morada with the armed men and the victim saying he was abducted by military men.

“According to the tribesmen, the NPA has not been visiting the village for a long time,” the priest said.

The witnesses said at the time the armed men were in the village of Rizal, they also received reports that soldiers were in the nearby village of Mabini.

Instead of evading government forces, the alleged NPA rebels instead proceeded to Mabini, bringing Morada with them, the tribesmen said.

Montallana said relatives of the victim had sought the help of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples in locating Morada.