Pull-out of the 19th IB in EV sought; probe on Palo incident looms

As this developed, the National Democratic Front in Eastern Visayas has joined other major militant groups here calling for the immediate “arrest, prosecution and punishment” of military involved in the recent killing incident in Palo, Leyte.

The military involved, composed of 19 soldiers, belong to the 19th Infantry Battalion based in Brgy. Aguiting, Kananga, Leyte. The team led by Lt. Adrian Luel Benedicto is being accused for allegedly firing at unarmed innocent civilians killing 10 persons.

The aftermath of the November 21 killing incident in Palo Leyte, which the military claimed as a “legitimate firefight” triggered militant groups in the region -- the Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Katungod-Sinirangan Bisayas and the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas -- to “demobilize” the 19th IB and proposed the pullout of the troop, as part of the 8th Infantry Division based here.

Fr. Santiago Salas, spokesperson of the NDF in Eastern Visayas assailed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, being the commander-in-chief, for not giving attention to the complaints of the poor peasants against the numerous human rights complaints against the military in this region.

Meanwhile, Alex Lagunzad, spokesperson of the Katungod Sinirangan Bisayas, a human rights advocate based in Tacloban City said this incident in Palo Leyte is the third “massacres” perpetrated by the 19th IB since 1998.

He said the 19th IB had been linked to the so-called “Mogus Massacre” in 1998 and the Kananga Massacre” in 2003.

Lagunzad explained that the “Mogus Massacre” occurred on September 11, 1998 at Sitio Mogus, Barangay Kapakohan, Palapag, Northern Samar where a family – a couple and two children – were allegedly killed while sleeping inside their mosquito net.

On the other hand, he said, the “Kananga Massacre” took place on April 16, 2003 at Barangay San Isidro, Kananga, Leyte where nine people were also killed by “shooting at closed range one after the other.” Lagunzad, however, admitted that two of them were indeed NPA members but the seven were not.

Other militant groups said the officers and elements responsible for the (Kananga) massacre were never prosecuted and punished. Instead, the battalion commander then was rewarded by the Arroyo administration, by being sent for military schooling to the US, preparatory to his promotion.

Lagunzad said his group, among other investigating bodies are now gathering more evidences to support their claims. Officials of the 19th IB, however, dismissed these allegations saying these were all “baseless and mere fabricated black propaganda.”

Fr. Salas, referring on the latest incident in Palo, Leyte, slammed the government's reports that they had a “45-minute encounter” with the New People's Army (NPA) and “confiscated” a few inferior firearms and documents, and that the “military is quick at inventing fake threats” from the NPA to justify mowing down defenseless civilians with impunity.

“What had happened in Leyte was seems like occurred in Hacienda Luisita in Central Luzon, all the victims were unarmed innocent civilians that includes women and children… and they are not rebels, as alleged by the military,” Fr. Salas said.

The rebel priest stood pat that “no encounter” happened because there were no NPA fighters deployed in the peasant community, and because the NPA is well-oriented to refrain from joining civilian activities and will never put the lives of civilians in danger.

Capt. Cromwell Danganan, commanding officer of the 8ID Civil Affairs Unit earlier claimed that the incident was a “legitimate operations” as they received information that some members of the outlawed New People's Army were in the area.

Danganan, who was not at the site of massacre echoed the version of soldiers and claimed that the military simply acted on “information tipped off by residents on the presence of rebels in the area.”

In his latest media interviews, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel counseled the military to be “circumspect” with its reporting and to make sure that they have their intelligence reports confirmed.

Many such intelligence reports have become a source of embarrassment lately for the Arroyo administration since they eventually ended up as false.

Bayan Muna partylist representative Teddy Casiño, who immediately gave a privilege speech in Congress after learning the incident in Leyte said he is seeking a “thorough probe” on this incident, and that he wants the intervention of his colleagues at the House.

Other Bayan Muna leaders also said the “massacre” in Leyte was clearly intended to cripple the progressive organization, which has suffered a big number of fatalities, including a Catholic priests, protestant ministers, lawyers and organizers since the AFP released its Compact Discs (CD) entitled “Enemies of the People,” which fingered Bayan Muna as a communist front organization.