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Probing the Military’s Hand

Published: December 23, 2006   |     |     |   Subscribe: RSS or Email    

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Reaching Tayabo, some of the neighbors brought the body of Pawecan to the funeral parlor while the others were allowed to go home. However, Marcial and his cousin, Fidel Palting, were taken by the military to the Sto. Niño military camp in San Jose City on suspicion that they were also members of the NPA. “Wala daw kasi kaming sedula (We were taken because, according to them, we had no tax certificates),” Marcial said.

Meanwhile, in July 2006, residents of Nueva Ecija went into panic to obtain Community Tax Certificates (CTCs or cedula) as, according to General Palparan, those without it are NPA members. In a trip to the towns of Lupao and Rizal, Nueva Ecija on the same month, Bulatlat reported that the two towns have run out of cedulas after distributing them to residents who came to the municipal halls in droves.

While being grilled about his alleged links to the NPA, Marcial said, military interrogators armed with a jungle knife sliced off part of his scalp. His head was shaved and three of his toenails were plucked out. Under threat, he was made to eat strands of his hair and the pared skin of his scalp.

Then, he said, his legs and thighs were burned with a lighted cigarette and a flamed wooden stick. His left thigh was pinched with a pair of pliers. Grass leaves were inserted in his penis. His eyes were sprinkled with salt and water was continuously poured into his nose and mouth. As the torture went on, he would lose consciousness and wake up to more pain.

Marcial said the maltreatment and humiliation done to him by his military captors lasted for two days and two nights right inside the Sto. Nino camp. “Pero yung piring ko hindi nila tinanggal hanggang sampung araw siguro (But my blindfold was not removed for about 10 days), he said while trying to explain that he could not anymore determine whether it was day or night.

“Pinakain din ako ng lupa tapos inihian din nila ako (I was also made to eat soil and soldiers urinated at me),” he said.

All through his interrogation and torture, the soldiers were making him admit that he is an NPA guerilla. “Hindi nila ako tinigilan hanggat hindi ako umamin (They did not stop torturing me until I confessed),” Marcial said with a sheepish smile. “Kaya nagsinungaling na lang ako. Sinabi ko NPA ako kahit hindi totoo kasi alam ko yun lang ang paraan para tigilan nila ako (That was why I had to lie by admitting I was an NPA guerilla so they would stop the torture),” he continued.

On July 7, 2006, after almost two months of incarceration at the camp, Marcial escaped. He drew a map and narrated to Bulatlat how he did it.

Meanwhile, records of Karapatan show that Palting, Marcial’s counsin, remains missing.