DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 24 Mar) – A woman, accused by government soldiers as supporter of the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in the southern Philippines, went into hiding after security forces allegedly threatened her with harm.
The woman, mother of four children, sought the help of a Gabriela, after she escaped from their village in Davao City. She said soldiers were accusing her and that she feared for her life and family.
She said the soldiers are members of the Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion.
Gabriela said troops picked up the woman at least 3 times in different occasions and was forcing her to admit that she has been working clandestinely with the rebels, a charge the she has strongly denied.
Other soldiers also accused her as the successor of a slain peasant leader, Ester Patiga, who was killed by two motorcycle gunmen in December 2005.
Gabriela admitted the woman is a volunteer of the group and is a member of the Department of Social Welfare and Development livelihood program and Nagkahiusang Mag-uuma sa Lunayan-Bandera.
Gabriela said the military accused the woman of promoting mass-based programs of the NPA in her village and a courier of supplies of rebels and their families.
Hundreds of members of the progressive groups and political activists had been killed in the Philippines since 2001 and independent investigations by the United Nations and other fact-finding groups have linked most of the murders to the military.
The military denied all allegations. (Mindanao Examiner)
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