TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte
– A top official of a non-governmental organization here has raised
concern over the intensifying armed conflict in the region and called
on the government to address insurgency through poverty alleviation.
Jazmin Jerusalem,
Executive Director of the
Leyte Center
for Development, Inc. (LCDE), said that they are alarmed over the
intensifying clashes between government troops and the communist
rebels as these affect the livelihood of the farmers.
“Due to the intense
armed conflict in the region, many peasant communities are forced to
flee their homes and sources of livelihood,” she said.
Jerusalem
added that the poor situation of the affected communities aggravated
after their displacement.
“This is very alarming
considering the fact that they were already in economic difficulties
even before the evacuation,” she said.
Jerusalem issued this
statement following the relief mission they conducted last May 19 in
Brgy. (village) Calapi in Motiong, Western Samar where they served
peasant families from three villages affected by armed conflict.
The LCDE is a
non-governmental organization assisting natural and man-made
disaster-stricken communities in Eastern Visayas.
Mass evacuation
More than a hundred
families from the villages of Beri, San Andres and Sto. Niňo in
Motiong (about two-hour travel by bus from
Tacloban
City)
were forced to descend from their barrios on March 6 and sought refuge
in Brgy. Calapi.
The villagers had
reasons to evacuate.
On the evening of
March 5, a farmer in Brgy. San Andres identified as Noel Labong, was
shot dead in front of his family by three unidentified men believed by
the villagers to be soldiers.
According to the
account of the victim’s wife, it was about 9:00 p.m. when the
assassins wearing bonnets and plain clothes barged into their house
and dragged the victim out where he was shot on the head.
A villager testified
that he saw a man in military uniform standing in front of the house
of the victim just before the shooting incident.
Shortly after the
murder of Noel, unidentified men abducted his brother Levi Labong. The
victim remains missing to this day.
Prior to the killing
and forced abduction in Brgy. San Andres, incidents of abuses had been
reported in Brgy. Sto. Niňo.
On March 2, a farmer
identified as Antonio Mabilog, was beaten by three unidentified men
while he and his wife were working on their farm. The suspects, clad
in military uniform, were asking the victim to point to them where the
communist rebels are camping.
On the same day,
alleged soldiers set the house, owned by a certain Segundo Gabane, on
fire. About 30 sacks of kalinayan, a good variety of upland rice, with
an estimated market value of Php 24,000 were also burned down.
Although there were no
direct witnesses, the villagers believed the arson was perpetrated by
the military.
Village chief Alnario
Gabane said they (villagers) reported to him that just before the
incident, army troopers arrived in the barrio and headed to the
direction where it happened.
In Brgy. Beri,
residents reported that on February 23, they heard successive gunshots
interspersed with big explosions coming from the forested area of the
village; it lasted for about one minute.
More hardship
Gabane lamented that
the situation of the affected villagers worsened after their
displacement.
“The villagers are
having more difficulties in meeting their daily needs, food
especially, since they were not able to attend to their farms from
March 6 until 23, the day they started returning to their barrios,” he
disclosed. He added that their newly grown crops were also destroyed
by tropical storm “Caloy,” which hit the region just two weeks ago.
To date, the majority
of the villagers already returned to their communities after a certain
Lt. Agoy ordered them to go back. About 15 families, however, opted to
stay permanently in Brgy. Calapi and nearby barrios for fear of their
lives.
Meanwhile, Roni
Mabanan, village chief of Brgy. Beri, disclosed that those who refused
to go back to their villages have become either tenants or farm
workers.
“Before the
evacuation, these villagers could at least get a daily income of more
than a hundred pesos from tilling their own farms. As tenants, they
now only get a daily income of more than Php 27 since they have to
give the landowners 75 percent of their harvest as payment for land
rent,” he said.
Mabanan said that
those who work as farm laborers are paid Php 50 a day, however, they
do not have regular income since they are only hired during cropping
season.
“To get additional
income, some of them would offer their services to farmers such as
helping the latter in delivering their produce to the market once or
twice a week in which they are paid Php 30,” he further said.
Economic security, not
bullets
Jerusalem said that
the armed conflict would only intensify and continue to devastate the
lives of the peasant communities if the government continues to launch
military offensives against the communist rebels instead of striking
down the root cause of insurgency.
“The government could
put an end to the long running armed conflict by addressing insurgency
through poverty alleviation,” she said.
She added, ”The
government should recognize the fact that there is insurgency because
of social injustice and the inequitable distribution of economic
resources in the country. It can only be solved by providing the poor
long-term economic security,” Jerusalem said.
