NPA Accuses RP Military Of Human Rights Violations

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 18 Apr) – The New People’s Army on Wednesday accused the Philippine military of harassing civilians in the southern province of Davao del Norte where troops are pursuing communist rebels.

A rebel leader Leoncio “Leonardo” Pitao, also known as Ka Parago Sandoval, said government offensive in the province have forced thousands of villagers to flee their homes.

Failing to find the rebels, soldiers were venting their ire on innocent civilians in the villages of Manay and Casilac in Panabo town where the military operation is concentrated, said Pitao, of the 1st Pulang Bagani Company, of the NPA’s Merardo Arce Command.

“The 1st Pulang Bagani Company calls on the Armed Forces of the Philippines to stop venting its ire on the people of Barangay Manay and Barangay Casilac, Panabo, Davao del Norte in order to deflect attention from the dishonor it has suffered in the NPA raid on the Davao Penal Colony,” Pitao said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

Pitao was referring to the NPA raid on the prison facility in Panabo town early this month where rebels, clad in military uniform, carted more than 100 firearms.

“Maj. Randolph Cabangbang of the AFP's Eastern Mindanao Command is making up stories and licking their bruised ego by wreaking havoc on the civilian populace through aerial bombardments, massive enforced displacements, and innumerable human rights abuses.”

“The bombing operation on Manay and Casilac was sheer chest-beating on the part of the AFP to show off its firepower and arrogance in the face of shame and defeat to the detriment of the lives and livelihood of civilians,” Pitao said.

He said the raid on the prison facility demonstrated the NPA's discipline and capacity to carry out tactical offensives without bloodshed.

Authorities have previously filed a string of charges against Pitao and six of his followers in connection with a raid at a banana plantation last year.

Local prosecutors charged Pitao for allegedly torching and destroying a seven-hectare banana plantation in Paquibato District in Davao City in September.

The Philippine Fresh Fruits Corporation owned the plantation. Chief city prosecutor Raul Bendigo said the damage to the plantation reached to about P3.5 million.

Bendigo said they filed two charges of malicious mischief on top of an arson case based on the investigation of prosecutor Jofre Saniel. The firm’s manager, Teodolfo Vergara, said Parago led the attack. (Mindanao Examiner)