Account of the Incident:
On January 5, 2011, at around 12:20 p.m., army soldiers and CAFGUs came to the house of Manuelito Loreno at Brgy. Binulusan Grande, Calinog, Iloilo. The soldiers went near the door of the low bamboo house while the CAFGUs stood at a short distance.
Account of the Incident:
On January 5, 2011, at around 12:20 p.m., army soldiers and CAFGUs came to the house of Manuelito Loreno at Brgy. Binulusan Grande, Calinog, Iloilo. The soldiers went near the door of the low bamboo house while the CAFGUs stood at a short distance.
While mother Annabelle was pounding boiled bananas to make “linupak” which will serve as their lunch, her five daughters, aging from 14 to 3 years old sat on the floor around the wooden mortar and pestle in anticipation, cheerfully lamenting that even though they had only a little sugar, it was good that they had something to eat. Suddenly, two of the soldiers were at the open door of their house, pointing their M14 rifles at Annabelle and her daughters, ordering them not to move or they will be shot.
The 14-year old daughter who was sitting at the door, the soldiers behind her, was terrified when she turned her head and saw the barrel of the rifle next to her head. She scampered away crying, bumping her head against the wall, while her four younger sisters cried and held close to each other.
Annabelle, in a state of shock, lifted the pestle and made a motion of hitting the soldiers, asking what they were up to. She warned the soldiers of the consequences they will suffer if their firearms go off and someone gets hit.
Opeña explained that they were after members of the New People’s Army. Annabelle calmed down, told them that there were no NPAs in her house and later pointed to them how to get to the barangay proper, where the army soldiers would proceed. At the soldier’s prodding, two of her daughters who were going back to their classess in Binulosan Grande Primary School walked with them.
Neither Annabelle nor her daughters had any appetite left for their “linupak”.
Manuelito Loreno came home late in the afternoon from selling bananas at INCA, Lambunao to learn of what happened. He sought Opeña and was told that it was Rowelo Catedrilla, a barangay kagawad, who reported the alleged presence of NPAs in his house.
Manuelito and Annabelle later learned that the younger of their two daughters who went to school vomited blood while at school but was alright after being given a medicine by a relative living nearby. What was more distressing for the couple to learn was that the elder daughter had a recurring nightmare that night, and would jump, cry and shout in the vernacular “Papa, there they are, they are going to shoot us!”
The next day, the couple brought their daughter to the district hospital in Calinog, where she was diagnosed with “anxiety reaction”. She later on exhibited odd behaviour, such as tying both hands of one younger sister, laughing without any provocation, beating with her hands as if leading the singing of the national anthem, and placing a younger sister in a sack while laughing.