Lyn-lyn Genita said her family was “traumatized” when five heavily armed military men stormed their house last September 21 in Barangay Pandaitan, Paquibato District. The incident affected her daughter-in-law, who had just given birth to the point of bleeding, so much so that she is now admitted at the city’s Southern Philippines Medical Center.
By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA
Davao Today
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Wives of revolutionary armed group New People’s Army (NPA) members claim that they have been repeatedly harassed by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who were reportedly encamped in their town hall in a farflung village this city.
Lyn-lyn Genita said her family was “traumatized” when five heavily armed military men stormed their house last September 21 in Barangay Pandaitan, Paquibato District. The incident affected her daughter-in-law, who had just given birth to the point of bleeding, so much so that she is now admitted at the city’s Southern Philippines Medical Center.
It is not the first time that soldiers went to their home to ask about her husband’s whereabouts. Last September 13, soldiers led by a certain Private First Class Pakulba confronted Genita to know about her husband’s involvement in the NPA.
“I did not deny the fact that my husband is an NPA but I said that I couldn’t do anything about that because he lives by his principles,” said Genita.
The same thing happened to Irish Bregole who said the same set of soldiers at first befriended them, but later conducted a census. This confused Bregole as she said that their personal circumstances were already recorded by village authorities.
“We are repeatedly called to the barangay (village) and asked the same questions. What do they still want to know? We already told them that only our husbands are NPAs, we ourselves, are civilians!” said Brigole.
For fear of their security, the NPA wives have put their farming on hold. Genita and Brigole are coconut and corn farmers and are also members of the peasant group Paquibato District Peasant Association.
The AFP denied the accusations raised by Genita and Brigole. In a text message to davaotoday.com, Lt. Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, the battalion commander of 69th Infantry Battalion said the allegations of harassments were not true.
“In the course of the surveys, they revealed that their husbands were members of the armed NPAs and with these our PDTs (Peace and Development Teams) encouraged them to convince their husbands to return to the mainstream and to abandon the armed struggle and avail of livelihood programs by the government,” Pasaporte said.
But for Reverend Jurie Jaime, spokesperson of the human rights group Karapatan, what the soldiers allegedly did is a violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
“As civil war is an undeniable reality in our country, the IHL is there to protect civilians including families of those involved in the armed conflict. This means that the families of the AFP, the NPA or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces should not be subjected to military operations or harassment,” Jaime said, adding that Karapatan is seeking independent investigation on the matter.
Attacks on the family members of NPA guerillas are not new incidents in the city. In 2008, Rebelyn Pitao, a young teacher and daughter of NPA Commander Leoncio “Ka Parago” Pitao, was abducted, tortured, raped and killed by suspected members of military intelligence under the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. (John Rizle L. Saligumba/davaotoday.com)
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