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?State of War? Displaces, Terrorizes Hundreds

UCCP says soldiers desecrated churches in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. Residents complain that they were used as guides by the soldiers in search of communist guerrillas. Military retorts that these allegations are mere ?insinuations.?

By Cheryll D. Fiel and Grace S. Uddin
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY ? Karapatan, the human-rights group, has accused the Philippine military of committing atrocities against civilians in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, in the course of retaliatory operations against the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

According to Karapatan and the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, the military has imposed a curfew in Sta. Cruz, restricted the movement of the residents and workers, and harassed villagers by accusing them of being NPA members.

Early this week, Karapatan spokesman Kelly Delgado presented to the media some of the residents who were forced to flee due to the heavy military operations in their villages. The operations, he said, were in retaliation for the military?s recent skirmish with the communists.

Alfredo Tubale, a resident of Upper Langan, a hamlet in Sta. Cruz town, said his house was among those searched by soldiers in the guise of looking for wounded NPA guerrillas and firearms. “How could we have wounded rebels in our hands? We are not doctors,? Tubale told repoters. ?The wounded are usually brought to hospitals so the military should be looking there instead.?

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Sixteen years ago, Carlo Perez, then an 11-year-old boy, got hooked on kites. Today, he has turned his passion into a booming business. And while more and more kids are turning to computer games for amusement, Carlo remains devoted to his kites. The day he lets go of the string, he says, is the day he lets go of his dreams.

By Jeffrey B. Javier
davaotoday.com

Photos by Barry Ohaylan

DAVAO CITY ? Carlito ?Carlo? Perez kicks up some dust as he brushes past the children toward the center of the oval field of the Davao City National High School (DCNHS).

“It is good,” he remarks as he looks up at the clear, blue, afternoon sky and feels the strong summer breeze. It is the first time Carlo’s Kite, the kite shop Carlo owns on V. Mapa Street, to hold a seminar workshop on kite-making. He is afraid that it will end with dark clouds hanging over us, literally. The weather has not been good for the past days. Even if the weather forecasts promised sunny days, the climate here in Davao has been unpredictable.

As Carlo fixes the contraption he carries, the children gather around him with wide eyes and eager curiosity. The workshop participants are children of Baranggay 10-A, the barangay (village) in which the shop is located. They have been waiting for Carlo to build his great kite. As Carlo finishes assembling the kite, he points out its different parts: the skeleton made of carbon fiber plastic, the leaf or the body made of taffeta, and the nylon string that, as if telling the kids, lets you hold on to your dreams.

Carlo, 27, considers every kite he makes a dream.

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