Gen. Palparan may be in jail, but his trained dogs, Brig. Gen. Ricardo Visaya and Gen. Eduardo Año are sowing terror in Mindanao," Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said as human rights violations continue to rise in Mindanao.
Gen. Palparan may be in jail, but his trained dogs, Brig. Gen. Ricardo Visaya and Gen. Eduardo Año are sowing terror in Mindanao," Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said as human rights violations continue to rise in Mindanao.
Gen. Visaya is acting commander of the 4th Infantry Division Philippine Army (IDPA) covering seven provinces of Northern Mindanao, including Bukidnon where a Lumad was recently killed. Gen. Año is recently appointed as commander of 10th IDPA in Davao provinces where soldiers are conducting “hamletting” in Brgy. Gupitan, Kapalong, Davao del Norte.
“Hamletting” is the practice of placing a
community in direct and strict military control. This includes, among others,
imposition of curfew hours, listing of names per household, controlling the
mobility of people in and out of the ‘hamlet’.
"While the butcher Palparan is in jail,
his terror continues. This means that the prosecution of one general is not
enough to change the human rights situation in the country. The government
should stop implementation of its counterinsurgency program Oplan Bayanihan,
and all butcher generals should be held accountable for their crimes against
the Filipino people," Palabay said.
Año and the Agila Division
Gen. Año, when appointed to head the 10th
IDPA promised to have a ‘decisive win’ against the New People’s Army in
Southern Mindanao ‘through preponderance use of force’. “But, like Palparan,
Año turns his gun against civilians,” said Palabay.
On July 18, soldiers began to encamp in a
school and a church in Sitio Kapatagan, Brgy. Gupitan, Kapalong, Davao del
Norte. Elements of the 60th IB ransacked the house of Purok leader Mario
Liban and took his stock of rice. The incident came after the New People’s Army
released its prisoner of war Cpl. Rogelio Rosales in Kapalong, Davao del Norte.
July 20, additional 40 soldiers of the 60th
IB arrived in Sitio Mangkay in Kapalong. Helicopters landing on the fields to
deliver supplies for the soldiers ruined the crops of the farmers. The soldiers
harassed the tribal chief Datu Herminio Suminggil by forcing him to tell where
the NPA fighters are.
“The soldiers imposed curfew hours, allowing
residents to get out of the community from 7a.m. to 11am only. This restrained
the farmers to tend their fields thus, disrupting their livelihood.” Palabay
added.
The 60th IB arrested the couple Jerry
and Tata Antonio in Sitio Mangkay and forced them to admit they were involved
in the NPA’s capture of Col. Rogelio Rosales.
In the afternoon of July 29, soldiers of the
60th IB ordered the residents of Sitio Kapatagan to line up and
threatened to strafe them as retaliation to the NPA. It was learned that a
contingent of the 60th IB was ambushed by the NPA in the morning of
the same day.
On July 30, soldiers used the children of the
villages of Mangkay and Kapatagan as guides in their operation. Because of
fear, the children agreed go with the soldiers.
"The extrajudicial killings, hamletting,
harassment, forced surrender, encampment of schools and places of worship,
destruction of property, threats, and the use of children as shields are all
part of Oplan Bayanihan. Gen. Palparan used this same formula under Oplan
Bantay Laya, which Gen. Año continued in Central Luzon resulting to the
disappearance of Jonas Burgos, among other cases of rights abuses. Terrorizing
civilians is the same strategy that the AFP has been using," Palabay said
in condemnation.
It was learned that Sagitarrius Mines Inc.,
(SMI)-XStrata has applied for mining exploration in Kapalong. "Other than
the insurgency, it seems that the military is sweeping away opposition for SMI-
XStrata’s entry in the town. The 60th IB now acts as private guards
for the SMI-XStrata. This is the same company that paid the 27th IB
and paramilitary groups in the massacre of the Capion family in Tampakan, South
Cotabato," Palabay said.
Extrajudicial killing in Bukidnon
Another Palparan protégé Brigadier Gen. Ricardo Visaya was
appointed “acting commander” of the 4th Infantry Division of the
Philippine Army based in Cagayan de Oro City in 2013 and is now attempting to
sow the same terror in Northern Mindanao.
Visaya was the
commanding general of the 69th IB-PA implicated in the Hacienda Luisita
massacre in 2004. He was also responsible for the abduction and torture of
farmers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo on February 14, 2006. Elements of the 69th
IB-PA, then headed by Visaya, were involved.
Marcel Singaman Lambon, 28 years old, was
gunned down on August 14, 2014 in front of a sari-sari store in Barangay
Kalabugao, Impasug-ong, Bukidnon.
As a habal-habal driver, his uncle Rodelio
Turay hired him to bring the corn to the milling station.
There they saw Dodoy Genton, a member of
Special Civilian Armed Auxiliary and Maru Sanugan, a known military asset.
Genton and Sanugan deceived Lambon and Turay to go to a nearby sari-sari store
where Lambon was shot twice. Lambon died on the spot.
Lambon was a council member of the
PIGYAYUNGAAN (a Lumad organization representing the Higaonon tribe of
Kalabugao, Impasug-ong, Bukidnon). Lambon led his organization in the
campaign against environmental destruction and the expansion of an oil palm
plantation in the Municipality of Impasug-ong. ###