Case: FORCIBLE EVACUATION, VIOLATION OF DOMICILE, INDISCRIMINATE FIRING
Victim/s: 378 families with 1,783 individuals
Place of Incident: Lumad (indigenous peoples) communities of Lianga, San Agustin and Tago, Surigao del Sur
Date of Incident: October 27, 2014
Alleged Perpetrator(s):
Case: FORCIBLE EVACUATION, VIOLATION OF DOMICILE, INDISCRIMINATE FIRING
Victim/s: 378 families with 1,783 individuals
Place of Incident: Lumad (indigenous peoples) communities of Lianga, San Agustin and Tago, Surigao del Sur
Date of Incident: October 27, 2014
Alleged Perpetrator(s):
- Operating troops of the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion, based in St. Christine, Lianga, Surigao del Sur under LTC. Jesus Durante
- Operating troops of the 36th IB PA
- Operating troops of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion
- 401st Brigade, Philippine Army
- Operating troops of the CAFGU
- Members of the paramilitary group of Calpit Egua
- Marcos
Bocales, trusted member and follower of Calpit Egua, former leader of
Task Force Gantangan – Bagani Force that was handled by the 29th IBPA in
Manobo areas in Surigao del Sur
Account of the Incident:
Since
the start of October military troops from the 2nd Scout Ranger
Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Battalion, 36th IB PA and 401st Brigade,
Philippine Army have been launching military operation in the mountain
areas of San Lorenzo, Prosperidad, Agusan Sur; Lianga and San Miguel in
Surigao del Sur.
October 22, 2014 at dawn, an undetermined
number of operating troops of the 36th IB PA were seen in the vicinity
of Sitio Kapatagan, San Roque, San Miguel, Surigao del Sur.
Early
morning of October 24, 2014 more or less 30 armed men belonging to the
2nd Scout Ranger Battalion, PA and some paramilitary armed men
identified as followers of Datu Calpit Egua were on foot patrol in Upper
Oregon, Logdeck, San Isidro, Lianga. About 17 of those troops including
members of Datu Calpit Egua’s paramilitary group went to the
neighboring Sitio Cabalawan, San Isidro, Lianga, Surigao del Sur.
At around 7:00am of the same day,
MAPASU council member Henry Sarsona Alameda, 44 years old, was shot
pointblank twice on the chest and one to his head and killed outside his
home in Cabalawan, San Isidro, Lianga, Surigao del Sur by three armed
men believed to be members of Calpit Egua’s armed paramilitary group.
M16 bullet shells were found in the crime scene. Witnesses identified a
certain Waway Belandres as one of the three armed men. Waway Belandres
is one of the trusted men of Calpit Egua.
In Simowao, Diatagon,
Surigao del Sur, at around 6 o’clock in the evening, military men and
Bagani paramilitary members went by the house of Genasque Enriquez,
General Secretary of KASALO-CARAGA.
October 25, 2014 military men belonging to the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion were seen in Logdeck, St. Christine.
October 26, 2014
armed men went into the houses of residents in the communities of
Panukmoan and Manluy-a in Brgy. Diatagon to intimidate community
members.
October 26, 2014, at around 1pm military men
belonging to the 36th B PA were seen passing by Hayon, Libas Sud, San
Miguel. One of the military men told community members that “Dunay ra
baamong naalaan nga duha ka mag-uuma, kalooy adto (We chanced upon two
men in the mountainsand thought they were members of the NPA).”
October 27,
at around 8 o’clock in the evening, around 6 armed men in civilian
clothes passed by the house of Datu Ombid Fresco in Kabulohan. At around
9 o’clock in evening, 2 armed men knocked on the door of the community
cooperative store in Kabulohan, Brgy. Buhisan, San Agustin.When the
couple living in the cooperative store did not answer, one of the armed
men then shouted,“Ablihi ni kay kung dili buak lagi ang inyo ulo (“open
the door or I’ll crack your head open”). In fear, Richard Tejero, the
cooperative caretaker, opened the door. The two armed men immediately
kicked the door and pushed Richard inside, ransacked and stole almost
all the supplies from the store, including rice and a container of
kerosene. The armed men then proceeded towards the school and on the way
set the Corn Sheller given by the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) to the community on fire. Upon reaching the school, they
poured kerosene on the tarpaulin of the UNICEF which declared that “All
schools are peace zones. Don’t use it as command post, detachment and
supply depots. RA 7610 Protection of the Rights of Children” then set it
on fire. They then poured kerosene on the walls of the school and set
it on fire. The community members upon seeing their school burning
shouted and ran towards the school to put out the fire.
The
armed men then indiscriminately fired their guns causing the people to
scramble for safety. One of the school’s teacher Josephine Trimidal who
is 8 months pregnant, and her husband jumped from their house near the
school in fear they will be hit by bullets. The teachers living in the
teacher’s cottage, Julieto and Melanie Trimidal and their 1 year old son
also jumped from the cottage in fear of being hit and ran towards the
nearby river.
October 27, 2014 in the morning, 378
families with 1,783 individuals from 16 mountain communities began their
trek towards the barangay center of Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur.
They arrived in the late afternoon of the same day. They are currently
in the Diatagon Barangay Gym.
The evacuation caused 7 Community Learning Schools to close affecting 569 pupils (270 boys, 279 girls).
Three
Learning Centers in Nalindog, Hayon and Sangay in Libas Sud, San
Miguel, Surigao del Sur has also closed down because of ongoing military
operation affecting 306 students (146 boys, 160 girls).
October 27,
at around 7 o’clock in the evening the spokesperson of the 4th ID Major
Christian Uy was interviewed in Bombo Radio in Butuan City. He admitted
that the 401st Brigade are conducting military operations in San
Lorenzo in Prosperidad and in the mountain communities of Lianga and San
Miguel in Surigao del Sur. He denied that they are supporting the
paramilitary group of Calpit Egua.
Karapatan-Caraga believes that
the recent spate of military operations are but another attempt of the
US-Aquino government to force the entry of large scale mining within the
ancestral lands of the lumad people in the Andap Valley Complex. They
are using the paramilitary group of Calpit Egua and targeting the
leaders of MAPASU who have been consistent and firm in their refusal to
allow coal mining within the Andap Valley Complex. The Andap Valley
Complex covers the mountain areas of San Miguel, San Agustin, Marihatag,
Cagwait, Tago and Lianga in Surigao del Sur.
Recommended Action:
Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:
- The immediate cessation of military operations.
- Immediate investigation of the incident.
- Immediate arrest of perpetrators.
- The
Philippine Government to observe the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and all the major human rights instruments that it is a party and
signatory to.
You may send your communications to:
H.E. Benigno C. Aquino III
President of the Republic
Malacañang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines
Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80
Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968
E-mail: op@president.gov.ph
Sec. Teresita Quintos-Deles
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
Voice:+63 (2) 636 0701 to 066
Fax:+63 (2) 638 2216
stqd.papp@opapp.gov.ph
Ret. Lt. Gen. Voltaire T. Gazmin
Secretary, Department of National Defense
Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo,
E. de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City
Voice:+63(2) 911-6193 / 911-0488 / 982-5600
Fax:+63(2) 982-5600
Email: osnd@philonline.com, dnd.opla@gmail.com
Atty. Leila De Lima
Secretary, Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
Direct Line 521-1908
Trunkline 523-84-81 loc.211/214
Fax: (+632) 523-9548
Email: lmdelima@doj.gov.ph, lmdelima.doj@gmail.com, lmdelima.doj2@gmail.com
Hon. Loretta Ann P. Rosales
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Voice: (+632) 928-5655, 926-6188
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: chair.rosales.chr@gmail.com, lorettann@gmail.com
Please send us a copy of your email/mail/fax to the above-named government officials, to our email address:
karapatancaraga [at] gmail.com
or to the address below
