Saving Face
To the residents, the military was simply saving face after the embarrassing prison raid, in which the NPA carted away more than 100 firearms without firing a single shot. The NPA, in a statement released a few days after the raid, called it a big slap” in the face of the armed forces.
“What Did They Kill?” Manay councilor Wilson Vergara called the bombings “irresponsible.” (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
The military said the aerial attacks in Manay were directed against the retreating New People’s Army rebels, claiming that they spotted the insurgents in the plantations here. Manay is about 10-15 minutes away by jeepney from the Panabo City proper. It has figured in the news after the military identified it as the place where the NPA boarded the vans they used in the prison raid.
The military also said they had to conduct the operations because the rebels also held some villagers hostage.
But, according to Cayetano, this is not true. “I was even one of those whom they said had been hostaged but I was here the whole time last Wednesday, helping out evacuating residents,” Cayetano said.
To human-rights groups, however, the militarys action was consistent with what it has allegedly been doing in the countryside: each time the NPA deals them a major blow, they strike back, usually against civilians.
Wilson Vergara, a barangay councilor, called the attacks on their village grossly wrong and irresponsible.
“The AFP made a big mistake. If indeed it were true that they saw NPAs in our village, they should have engaged them in a ground encounter, rather than drop bombs on the entire village, Vergara told davaotoday.com in an interview. It only shows that they were not sure about their intelligence report because why would they use such an attack?
“If only you saw how the residents fled from the bombs, dragging their carabaos and goats, he added. Those with vehicles were lucky.
