By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today NPA’s Ka Parago said the fatalities were “armed combatants of the 69th IB Special Operations Team, not defenseless functionaries or civilians falsely depicted by the AFP,” pointing out that the same Army unit is responsible for the recent summary execution of a hemp farmer, Mires Esdang, in Malabog village, Paquibato District last October 18.
By KENETTE JEAN I. MILLONDAGA Davao Today She was not simply the wife of an indigenous anti-mining activist. Juvy Capion, the woman killed in what is now called the Tampakan massacre, was a farmer, mother of four, and leader of the Blaan community.
By WARREN CAHAYAG Davao Today They are demanding the military to account for such “act of barbarity”, saying that relieving the perpetrators is not enough but the pull-out of these troops “who have become attack dogs against lumads who are only defending their land from being turned into ugly mine sites.”
BY JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA Davao Today The NPA admitted they targeted the military detachment to “emasculate the enemy and wipe out its structure that has placed the lives and properties of the people in danger” but made a mistake “in considering the circumstances, combat intelligence and all pertinent operational information in instigating the action.”
By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today One of the angles the residents asked the authorities to look into was the drinking-spree that took place inside the detachment from the afternoon until the evening of September 1. Nevertheless, the presence of the detachment in the center of the village and lying near a civilian facility was criticized by the residents of Fatima.