Tribal Groups Assail Military In Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 7, 2008) – Tribal groups on Saturday accused the Philippine military of trying to block investigations by independent human rights organizations of alleged abuses by soldiers and of the plight of people displaced by clashes between the government and communist and Muslim insurgents in Mindanao.

The groups also charged the military with human-rights abuses and extrajudicial killings of political activists and tribesmen suspected of aiding communist rebels. A tribal leader, Datu Monico Cayog, accused the military, too, of campaigning to ban militant groups from entering communities in the provinces.

Cayog, deputy chairman of the independent PASAKA Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao, claimed that the commander of the military’s Civil Relations Group, Maj. Medel Aguilar, urged villagers to ban such groups in their communities.

The Philippine military has repeatedly accused the left-leaning organizations, including PASAKA, as fronts of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, which broke off peace talks with Manila in 2004. These organizations have denied that they are supporting the rebels.

Cayog said the alleged abuses by soldiers had been made public after their victims, mostly indigenous people, sought help from the militant groups and human rights organizations in Mindanao.

“Aguilar is merely afraid when human rights groups enter poor rural villages because their [soldiers] crimes are exposed,” he added.

Cayog said military operations against insurgents in Mindanao have displaced thousands of people, especially in Compostela Valley and nearby provinces, where there are indigenous tribes.

“We are not the ones who terrorize these communities. We do not torture or harass these people. We are the ones who rehabilitate the people and communities which suffer from military atrocities,” he said.

Cayog said banning these groups in civilian communities and refugee areas would deprive many people of medical and humanitarian services.

“When the government is able to genuinely provide basic social services to the majority of the poor Filipinos in the rural areas, when no human-rights violations shall ever befall civilians, then perhaps there would be no reason for us to go to them,” he said.

NPA rebels have stepped up their attacks on government and military targets in Mindanao and killed more than two dozen targets in recent weeks. On Thursday, insurgents ambushed a government patrol, wounding at least five militiamen in Davao del Sur’s Matanao town.

Rebel leaders broke off peace talks after accusing President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on a deal that would lead to the release of all political detainees and respect for human rights and a stop to all extrajudicial killings of activists, among other allegations. (Mindanao Examiner)