Then, the soldiers asked the name of their purok or village hall. Since the hall was barely finished, the village had yet to give it a formal name. When Allan tried to explain this, the soldiers wouldn’t accept his explanation. Instead, they took it as further proof that he wasn’t really from the village and, therefore, was indeed an NPA member.
In the midst of the shouting, Allan barely noticed that the soldiers had made his younger brother go on ahead. He was preoccupied by the two soldiers, a third one joining them in a few minutes. Not content with shouting, the soldiers started to strangle him. Three times, they also put Allan’s head inside a plastic bag.
Allan thought he was going to die each time his head was in the bag. He felt like he was drowning, his oxygen supply cut off. But he was still alive.
Each time the soldier removed the bag from his nose and mouth, his ears would ring with shouted questions and accusations. The soldiers wanted him to admit that he was a member of the NPA.
Allan denied the accusation. So, one of the soldiers took Allan’s machete and tried to strike him. Allan says he doesn’t know where he got the strength to catch the machete by clapping his hand and catching the sharp blade between his palms. The soldiers took his speed and agility as another proof that he was a trained member of the NPA.
Allan explained that he was merely protecting himself but the soldiers would not believe him. They forced Allan’s head inside the cooking pot that the brothers had used to store their lunch. His head wouldn’t fit, so, it was very painful.
Then, the soldiers forcibly removed his shirt, using it to bind his hands behind his back and forced him facedown.
Thinking that he was going to die, Allan called on God. One soldier laughed. He said that there was no God and that it was useless to call on Him. Trying to prove his point, another soldier pushed him harder on the ground, this time grinding his face on the mud, cutting off his oxygen. For good measure, one soldier also sat on his back but Allan would not admit to the soldiers’ accusations.
LATE NIGHT FLIGHT. Though still sore from being beaten by elements of the military, Allan Autan had to carry his wife on the night that his terrified tribe fled their village. Jenalyn had given birth earlier that day and Allan’s back was drenched in blood after the six-hour walk.(davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
Then, the soldiers told Allan to get up and accompany him. Allan refused. He was afraid that he might be taken to a more secluded place and gunned down. He was also exhausted.
Finally, one soldier pulled at the hair on his sideburns to force him up. He was still pulling Allan by his sideburns when his wife Jenalyn, still pregnant with Vermon, arrived. She warned the soldier against hurting her husband, who was already tired from felling trees. The soldier who had Allan by the sideburns denied that they were hurting Jenalyn’s husband. Jenalyn said that it was clear that her husband had been roughed up because he was muddy and full of scratches.
One of the soldiers told his companions to let Allan go because the latter’s wife was pregnant and might have the baby prematurely.
Indigenous Peoples
