COMPOSTELA VALLEY (Mindanao Examiner / 07 Mar) – The New People’s Army rebels accused Philippine soldiers and government militias of killing a 21-year old mentally-impaired man in Montevista town in Compostela Valley province in the southern Philippines.
Rebel spokesman Aries Francisco, of the NPA’s Alejandro Lanaja Command, said soldiers from the Philippine Army’s 28th Infantry Battalion and government militias allegedly killed Raul Adlawan in the village of Banglasan over the weekend.
Adlawan, the son of a farmer, was gathering sea shells, when security forces attacked him without provocation, he said. Adlawan’s body was peppered with bullets, he said.
The killing, Francisco said, occurred near where soldiers and rebels earlier clashed. Two government soldiers and four other infantrymen were killed in that clash, he said.
The NPA vowed to retaliate the killing. “We and the revolutionary masses strongly condemn this latest criminal act by the 28th IB-AFP. The NPA shall strive to mete out the punishment against these criminals within the AFP and render revolutionary justice to Raul Adlawan,” Francisco said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the militant party list group, Bayan Muna, expressed fear that the mid-year elections would be violent after President Gloria Arroyo signed into law the anti-terror bill, now known as the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007.
It said the law could be used to prevent progressive party list groups from winning congressional seats.
Militant groups have accused the government soldiers of campaigning against party list organizations linked by the military to the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA, its armed wing.
Arroyo assured the law will not be abused.
“There is no way that Mrs. Arroyo can claim the safety and the protection of the Filipinos with the anti-terror law just waiting to strike at anyone suspected of being terrorists,” said Joel Virador, of the Bayan Muna. (Mindanao Examiner)
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