By Ina Alleco Silverio, Bulatlat.com

Evidently not content with tagging ordinary civilians as members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continue to use children in its campaign to demonize the revolutionary forces.

According to a report by Katribu Party-list, soldiers belonging to the 73rd Infantry Battalion forced 10-year old Manuel (not his real name) to hold a chain of sub-machine gun bullets and carry an M-16 rifle. The soldiers then photographed the child and distributed it to local media with the caption “NPA child warrior going to school in Dlumay.”

Manuel is a Blaan student living in the remote village of Dlumay.

Katribu Party-list has released a statement saying that this was the latest in a series of vicious and systematic acts of harassment the 73rd IB against has perpetrated against the Center for Lumad Advocacy and Services (Clans) and its projects in the communities it serves in Upper Suyan, Malapatan, Sarangani Province.

The organization of indigenous people said that since November 2010, Clans staff, schoolchildren and their parents, and community leaders have been subjected to interrogation, harassment, vilification and ridicule.

“The soldier even went as far as ordering a Blaan family to exhume their dead pastor, who died of lingering illness, because he was suspected as an NPA killed in action,” said Clans.

Staff members of Clans said they tried to document these atrocities in detail.

“For the past months we have been trying hard to stand our ground in defense of our school and our community against against the platoon of gun-toting government soldiers who would not let us have a day of peace,” they said.

“ On February 18 no less than our program coordinator, Maricel Salem was interrogated by a certain Sgt. Jake Geron and Pfc Cabawbaw in the sub-village center of Datalnay for a full three hours. The military tried to extract information from her, interrogating her on the identities of the staff, the structure of the program and the institution, the source of funding, etc,” they said.

According to the staff of Clans, the military also tried to pin down Salem into admitting that their organization is anti-government. The soldier reportedly cited the center’s tarpaulin hung in front of the building wherein the center’s five-point agenda was printed. Clans has declared that it 1) supports the struggle for ancestral land; 2) calls for the protection of the environment; 3) stands against large-scale mining; 4) campaigns for access to basic social services; and 5) is against anti-development aggression.

“Your school is against the government and we will not think twice about killing anyone who is against the government,” the soldiers reportedly threatened Salem. The soldiers issued the threat while in the presence of Datalnay residents and the staff who bravely tried not to show that they were scared.

In the meantime, the military has also reportedly tried to create a rift between Clans and the community.

“They are insinuating that we pocketed the funds of the micro hydro project because it still isn’t finished,” the staff said.

The Clans staffers said the threats and other acts of harassment by the military are becoming too much for them and their young Blaan literacy teachers and staff. They said all their hard work and serious efforts to educate Lumad children in the very remote area are being destroyed demolished by the military.

“We want to finish the school year with the children and hold graduation!”, Clans teachers said in tears.

In the meantime, the Clans staff said they have tried their best to secure support from the local government by sending letters and seeking audience with the barangay council and barangay captain of Upper Suyan and even with the local government of Malapatan and of the province of Sarangani.

“But we still have to see any assistance or support from them,” they lamented.

According to reports, more troops arrived on March 16, 2011 in Dlumay and in other sub-villages of Upper Suyan. Residents have been reportedly complaining that the military have become more arrogant and vicious, interrogating community leaders for hours on end, terrorizing everyone.

“Given the situation, we had no choice but to temporarily move out of the area. School is closed and the micro hydro project is at a standstill. We do not know how long will the military stay in the area, or if they will be the ones to guard the mining sites of San Miguel Corporation, which is where our school and project areas are currently located,” said that the Clans staff.

Calling Congressman Manny Pacquiao

Katribu Party-list and Clans is seeking the support of human rights organizations and all individuals who are against military abuses to help Clans in their campaign to stop the military from harassing the school, the students and the rest of the community residents.

”We cannot afford to just sit down and swallow all the atrocities piled on us with nary a word of indignation or protest. We cannot and will not leave the Lumad children whom we have learned to love like they were our own. We cannot turn our backs on the community who have nurtured us for so long,” they said.

Clans asked the public to write letters supporting the center against military abuses and send them to President Benigno Aquino III, the Department of Education, the Commission on Human Rights, Rep. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao of Sarangani Province; local officials of Sarangani Province; and Mayor Alfonso Singcoy of the municipality of Malapatan.

“We want to resume operations of our literacy school, and bring back our teachers and pupils by driving away the military from our communities. There is a need to expose the real situation in Dlumay and its surrounding Lumad communities and in many other parts of Sarangani and Mindanao. The public must be told about the military atrocities and human rights violations happening here. The more people know the truth, the faster and wider our support,” said the staff of Clans.

With Katribu-Party-list and other human rights organizations, Clans has established Task Force Help our Children, Save our School ( Tnabeng e Dad Nga Mi, Tnamang e Skul Mi), and said that they are scheduling a fact finding and documentation mission to Upper Suyan.

Connected to Mining

In a related development, Katribu party-list has condemned the recent killing of a tribesman and accused government forces of routinely attacking tribal people.

“As mountain dwellers, indigenous people hunt and gather food in forests. We have been mistaken for armed rebels often. Our members have fallen victim to military abuses, said Beverly Longid, a member of the Bontok-Kankana-ey tribe and president of the Katribu Party.

“It is not right government forces keep committing mistakes in so-called anti-rebel pushes and at the expense of indigenous peoples.”

She cited an attack on Aggay tribesmen which killed one man and injured his six companions in February. The Aggay is an indigenous tribe in the Cagayan Valley in the northernmost tip of Luzon Island.

Longid said the seven men were on their way to a village to gather bamboo shoots and rattan on February 9 when they were shot at. Local residents believe government forces were behind the attack.

“By merely suspecting that Aggays are members of the NPA, government troops already felt justified in attacking innocent civilians,” Longid said.

She said her group has documented several deaths in attacks since President Aquino took office.

“The government’s anti-insurgency drive does not distinguish between civilians and rebels. We are also convinced that the deployment of soldiers on tribal land is linked to the presence of nearby mining operations,” she said.

Katribu actively campaigns for an end to mining operations on tribal land.#

By Ronalyn V. Olea, Bulatlat.com

MANILA – A woman radio anchor was shot dead along Solonian street in Maysilo, Malabon at around 9:45 a.m, March 24.

Marlina “Len” Flores-Sumera, 45, of radio station dzME’s “Arangkada 1530,” was about to board a jeepney on her way to work when she was shot at by a lone gunman. Sumera was rushed to the Valenzuela General Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.

Supt. Rio Gatacillo, Northern Police District public information chief, said the bullet entered Sumera’s nape and exited through her eye. Gatacillo said the gunman was a professional hired killer, noting that the assassin even picked up even the empty shell of an unknown pistol. Gatacillo said the gunman took Sumera’s mobile phone and handbag to make it appear as a robbery.

Sumera, a mother of three, also worked with stations dzXL and dzAR before dzME.

Sumera is the first female journalist slain under President Aquino. Four journalists have been killed since Aquino assumed office in June while the NUJP documents 143 journalists killed since the ouster of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986. Of these cases, only six gunmen and no masterminds have been convicted.

In a report, Ed Sarto, Sumera’s co-anchor, said the possible motive for the killing is a land dispute. Sumera is the neighborhood association president.

In a statement, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-National Capital Region chapter also raised the angle of land dispute behind Sumera’s killing. The group said Sumera was vocal in her opposition to Malabon City’s proposed road-widening project.

In a separate statement, Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan denounced the murder. “Marlina Flores-Sumera’s killing, done in public view and in broad daylight is yet another proof that the culture of impunity continues under President Noynoy Aquino. We strongly denounce this killing and demand that a thorough probe on her death be conducted so that justice may be served immediately.”

“This is an outrage, not just for those in the media but for women as well,” Ilagan added.

Ilagan said he slow conviction rate and the government inaction on media killings embolden those who would like to silence journalists. “It is imperative for the Aquino government to take concrete steps towards the protection of members of the press and show political will in resolving the cases of slain journalists,” Ilagan said.#

By Karl G. Ombion, Bulatlat.Com – BACOLOD City – Rights advocates, kin and friends of detained development worker Rogina Navarro-Quilop launched here early this week the “Free Rogina Quilop Movement” (FRQM) to intensify their coordinated campaign for her release.

Fr. Armand Onion, FRQM coordinator, said during the launching that “the assault on Rogina is an assault on the Filipino people because at the time of her illegal arrest she has dedicated her life in solidarity with the poor.”

“Rogina is a symbol of the struggle of the people for freedom and justice; her freedom will also mean justice for the people,” Fr. Onion added.

Fred Cana, secretary general of Karapatan Negros said Rogina, administrative officer of Bacolod-based non-government service organization Center for People’s Resources and Services (CPRS) and a board director of Ma-ao Parish Multi-Purpose Cooperative Inc. (MPMPCI), was arrested on March 3 at the Bacolod-Silay airport by fully armed elements of Silay City Police Office, Provincial Police Office and civilian operatives believed to be intelligence members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

She was arrested for alleged arson case on the strength of a warrant of arrest issued by Judge Katherine Go of San Carlos City Regional Trial Court.

She was arrested in the presence of her children and husband Joe Quilop who fetched her at the airport. They also confiscated her laptop, micro flash drives, and P 5,000 in cash.

The military and police community insisted that Rogina is an underground personality with aliases “Ka Guia”, “Ka Rowena”, and a secretary of the CPP-NPA Negros regional finance bureau.

Rogina came from a seminar-training on Quickbook System in Cebu, sponsored by a partner funding agency, Cana said.

Her husband also denied military allegations, saying that Rogina is a church-based development work, and physically unfit for the rigors of rebel life.

Rogina is now detained at the Negros Occidental Provincial Jail. Her first arraignment is set on March 23 in San Carlos City RTC Branch 59.

Fabricated Case Cana said Rogina’s arrest stemmed from a complaint affidavit by a certain Gordoncillo who lived in the southern city of Himamaylan linking her with 17 members of New People’s Army and 15 John Does who allegedly burned a sugar transloading station in Toboso.
“It is clearly a fabricated case because the complaint alleged that Rogina was in a meeting March 10, 2010, that was to carry out the burning next day; the burning took place six days after the alleged meeting,” Cana said.

Cana also said “ Rogina’s name only came out in the 5th amended warrant of arrest, together with Romulo Bitoon who was arrested April 5, 2010, three other names, and other John Does; and that the warrant of arrest served to her last March 3 only contained hers and Romulo Bitoon.”

“It is a nightmare to think of remaining 13 John Does in Quilop and Bitoon case because it could be 13 more innocent persons depending on who the military would prefer to incriminate among the ranks of either human rights defenders, peasant or labor leaders, and even development workers assisting the poor and marginalized sectors,” Cana stressed.

Beyond Arson

Rogina’s co-accused, Romulo Bitoon, in an interview with Bulatlat said his case was declared “temporarily dismissed” by Judge Katherine Go in a hearing last March 9 in San Carlos City.

The court decision was given on the basis that the two witnesses and complainant are still nowhere to be found by authorities, said Bitoon.
The “temporary dismissal” is good for two years, after that it could be rendered permanent if witnesses and complainant would still not appear.

When his legal counsel repeatedly insisted for permanent dismissal for lack of a real case, the judge reportedly got angry and was quoted by the counsel as having said that the “there is more to this case, this is beyond the case..”

At that point Bitoon and his counsel said they understood clearly what the judge meant to say, and thus accepted partially the order of “temporary dismissal”.

Bitoon said his case is “clearly a criminal assault on their political beliefs and legitimate work with the people; it is nothing more than political persecution.”

Nothing Changed under the Aquino administration

Cana said the case of Bitoon, the incarceration of Rogina and dozens other political detainees, and thousands being demonized, persecuted and face arrest, are just proof that nothing really substantive has changed in the human rights situation under the Aquino administration despite its promises of political reforms and the AFP and PNP’s declared commitment to human rights protection.

“The fact is that the failed brutal Oplan bantay laya I and II of the AFP continues unrelentlessly under new name Oplan bayanihan,” Cana said.

He stressed that “in Negros it is obvious; there is massive build up of military combat troops in rural areas now almost 5 regular combat battalions including CAFGU and special paramilitary units led by RPA-ABB; ongoing search and destroy operations cloaked in development missions; intensified intelligence operations; vilification and demonization of mass leaders and activists; criminalization of legitimate demands and struggles of the basic masses for right to land, jobs, education, services, peaceful abode and movement.”

He also said that since President Benigno Aquino III assumed power Negros already had two cases of extra judicial killing, more harassment of civilians including children in rural areas, and 14 cases of arrest mostly involving the filing of fabricated cases.

“Assault on human rights is not slowing down as claimed by official sources, instead it is intensifying on all fronts,” he added.

“If I may have to conclude, the human rights situation is bound to worsen because more and more people are rising up and fighting for lands, jobs, education which government does not respond to fairly except by the use of fascist force,” Cana concluded.#