By CHERYLL D. FIEL
Davao Today
DAVAO CITY – A 74-year-old man, a 32-year-old mother, three farmers and two Bagobo lumads find themselves accused of the military’s trumped up charges as the government’s Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL) deadline to end the four-decades of Communist insurgency nears.
For opposing the military’s presence in their communities in the town of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, the seven are now facing trumped-up charges of attempted murder by the military.
Residents Ricardo Elacion, Gina Bernardo, Edgar Piadopo, Pasing Lopez, Lino Lumana, Amelito Elio and Benjie Faldas of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur have been accused by the military of staging the January 21 ambush in Coronon village of the same town.
One of those charged, Lumana, said he heard about the news when he turned on the radio on February 11 and could not believe his ears.
“I was in Manila that day,” Lumana, 58, recalled where he was on the day of the supposed NPA offensive. On January 21, Lumana joined thousands of farmers in a nationwide caravan, Lakbayan Para sa Lupa at Hustisya, that culminated in Mendiola to remember the January 22 peasants’ massacre 28 years ago.
Bagobo leader Amelito Elio, a veterinarian, faces trumped up charges by the military, who accused him and six other residents in Sta. Cruz of staging an ambush of a military detachment in Barangay Coronon in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. (contributed photo)
On February 9, members of the 39th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the 72nd Infantry Battalion Civilian Auxiliary Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu) filed the information at a court in Digos City, Davao Del Sur accusing Lumana and six others of frustrated murder.
All seven denied involvement in the ambush.
Faldas, whose name was on the list, said he was attending the baptismal of a friend’s child at the time the military claimed they took part in the ambush in Sitio Talaw, Barangay Coronon on January 21.
“My neighbors know I am a resident of Sibulan. I am a community health worker,” he said.
Elacion, 74, said he does not even know that a place called Sitio Talaw exists. “Look at me. Do you think I can even carry an armalite?” he asked.
Piadopo and Lopez, both residents of Barangay Zone 1, said they were at a fiesta on the day the military claimed they staged an ambush in Coronon.
Piadopo said he even went to the barangay hall that day to help return some chairs borrowed by a neighbor who used them in a wake of a family member.
