DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Two farmers were killed in Davao Oriental in an escalating violent conflict between the New People’s Army and the military in the week that followed the Communist Party of the Philippine’s lifting of its unilateral ceasefire.
More than 3,000 families have evacuated in Manay, Davao Oriental after the recent armed encounters on Tuesday.
In a statement, Rigoberto Sanchez, spokesperson of the NPA Southern Mindanao Operations Command said the farmers ” were waylaid by soldiers in their frenzied shoot-out ” after a military attack of an NPA position in Manay town.
“At around 7:00 in the evening on January 31, troops belonging to 67th IB were already deployed for combat operation in the villages of Kayawan, del Pilar and Kapasnan in the hinterlands of Manay town. The next day, February 1, the AFP troops interrogated several masses in the community on the whereabouts of the Red fighters,” Sanchez said.
He said at around 12:30 p.m on Wednesday, the NPA unit in the area fended off another attack by the scout platoon of the 67th IB in Barangay Lambog, Manay town.
But while the guerrillas were maneuvering to evade the soldiers, they were still caught up by soldiers who fired at them, Sanchez said.
The soldiers lost an officer in that gun battle who was identified as second Lieutenant Victor Alejo ., one soldier was wounded, he added .
It was at this point that as the NPAs withdrew, Sanchez said that soldiers “waylaid two civilians in their frenzied shoot-out after the firefight.”
“To conceal their own ceasefire violation, the spin doctors of the AFP concocted yet another storyline of an “anti-criminality operation to assist the PNP in going after lawless elements.”
“This latest armed skirmish, whose storyline bears resemblance to the Makilala and Matalam incidents, clearly exposes the duplicitous scheme of the AFP: conduct civic-military operations and combat operations, ensure engagement with the NPA and feign indignation over the incident,” he said.
Sanchez said there are residents who were forced to evacuate and are now staying in nearby Lambog, Kapasnan and Rizal villages . He has also urged the government peace panel to investigate the incidents in North Cotabato and Davao Oriental.
However, the Army’s 10th Infantry Division said the civilians were killed by the NPA for unknown reason citing the police blotter of Manay Philippine National Police.
“Rolando Mabas of Sitio Tambo, Barangay Lambog reported that he personally saw the lifeless bodies of Ruben Inidio-an and Boy Sumambot, who were killed by the NPA for unknown reason,” the Army said.
The Army added that in another police blotter, Inidio-an’s wife, Clara said her husband and Sumambot were killed “when they crossed path with the NPA while on their way to the center of Barangay Lambog to evacuate.”
The Army said there are currently 3,286 families who evacuated in Manay town. The families are residents of Barangays Lambog, Del Pilar, Capasnan, Cawayan, Taocanga, and Rizal.
It added that a total of 455 evacuees are now in Poblacion Manay. The government are now closely working to address the incident.
MGen. Rafael C. Valencia, 10ID commander called the NPA’s “bandits on the loose wantonly killing innocent civilians, confirming they were never a people’s army.”(davaotoday.com)
