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21st IB violated CARHRIHL--NPA

Unarmed NPA killed in Kalinga

BALBALAN, Kalinga (Nov. 10) — Another violation to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) was reported by Kalinga’s Lejo Cawilan Command (LCC) of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Kalinga.

In a statement sent to NORDIS, (LCC) Spokesperson Ka Tipon Gil-ayab condemned the brutal torture and killing on November 2 of Bagtang Bulawit, a.k.a. Ka Awi, 27, single, by the 21st IB of the Philippine Army based in Kadamayan Command Post here. Bulawit hails from Basao, Tinglayan.

The command holds responsible Lt. Col. Christopher Estela, commanding officer of the 21st IB for violating CARHRIHL and Protocol I and II of the Geneva Convention. It invokes that Bulawit was unarmed and was in the hands of the army unit when he was tortured and killed.

Gil-ayab recounted that at around 11 a.m., a section of the 21st IB led by 2LT Arvin C. Encinas accosted Bulawit at Sitio Kilayon in Brgy. Balantoy here. Local folk accounts revealed that Bulawit was unarmed at the time of the arrest and was brought for tactical investigation before 2LT. Benito Ramos, commanding officer of Charle Coy, 21st IB.

Unable to extract information from Bulawit, both Encinas and Ramos led the torture of Bulawit, according to the statement. Two other officers, 2LT Manuel Dumpao and 2LT Aurelio Kigis of the 49th Separate Rifle Company, also allegedly participated in the torture and eventual killing of Bulawit at around 1:30 p.m.

A separate account said that Bulawit’s body was found hanging on a tree between sitios Kilayon and Ligayan. It bore 13 gunshot wounds and showed marks of torture.

The Command recounted other human rights violations committed against the people of Kalinga since 2003 by the 21st and 77th IB. These include the investigation without legal counsel and unattended gunshot wounds of Leonard Angid, another NPA member who was accosted after military operations in March 2003; the shooting of Victor Balais, a hunter who was mistaken to be a rebel and was killed by the 77th IB in Pinukpok town in December last year; and the indiscriminate firing in Balantoy on August 25, this year which wounded 4 civilians.

Gil-ayab said that the families of these victims of military atrocities still await justice. Unfortunately, these cases have been reportedly accounted for by the military as either a result of an encounter and that some trumped up cases have been filed against the victims.

Bulawit’s body was buried in Isla Basao, San Juan, Tabuk. # via NORDIS

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