DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / July 20, 2014) – Human rights group Karapatan has accused the Philippine military as behind the murder of two men who were tagged as communist rebels by government soldiers in Davao del Sur province in Mindanao region.
Karapatan said the victims – Tony Bago and Arnel Tanduya – were separately killed by gunmen after soldiers accused them of being members of the New People’s Army, an allegation strongly denied by their families.
In a recent news conference following a fact-finding mission, Karapatan said there were reports of numerous human rights violations, extrajudicial killings and harassment of civilians perpetrated allegedly by the military in the province.
It said Bago, a fish vendor, was killed on July 21 by two masked gunmen on motorcycle. Prior to the killing, Bago was summoned twice and interrogated by the army and told him to surrender his son who was also tagged by soldiers as a member of the NPA.
Karapatan said Tanduya, also accused by the military as a member of the rebel group, was also murdered on May 2. His body was peppered with bullets.
“The numerous human rights violations in Malita, Davao del Sur is a clear form of bloody Oplan Bayanihan under Aquino’s Regime, the killing of innocent Lumads,” Pastor Sadrach Sabella, Karapatan spokesman, said.
Sabella said they have recorded at least two dozen killings in the region and that 10 of the victims were tribesmen who fought for their ancestral rights.
“Families of the victims call for justice and appeal to authorities to stop the branding of innocent civilians as rebels or supporters of rebel groups,” he said.
There was no immediate statement from the military on the allegations of Karapatan, but the Eastern Mindanao Command has previously denied all accusations of human rights violations and reports of extrajudicial killings by soldiers.
It also branded Karapatan as a front for the communist groups, an allegation strongly denied by the human rights organization. (J. Magtanggol)
20