Can a Small Girl, 9, Engage Troops in a Firefight?

Published: April 4, 2007 | |

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Philippines: Pimentel Seeks Prosecution of Grecil’s Killers

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Mindanews editor Carolyn Arguillas has a compelling story on Grecil Galacio, a nine-year-old Grade Two pupil from New Bataan, Compostela Valley. The military claimed that Grecil, who was described in earlier news reports as 12 years old, was a member of the New People’s Army that engaged troops in a firefight. In Arguillas’s report, Grecil’s parents sought to discredit the military’s version of events. “My daughter is so small. Nine years old. And then they say she’s NPA?” the girl’s mother said.

In her story, Arguillas pointed out that “a military photograph of the fallen Grecil, face down, bloodied head, beside an M-16 rifle that she reportedly earlier carried, showed the rifle’s height to be about the same as the girl’s. A fully-loaded M-16 weighs several kilos and is heavy for an adult to lift.”

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