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Human Rights violations rise in Abra

BAGUIO CITY (Apr. 6) — Cases of harassment and intimidation by the 41st Infantry Battalion continues to mount in Bangilo, Malibcong, Abra, the site for this year’s Cordillera Day commemoration.

This was revealed by Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) Secretary General Windel Bolinget in an interview. Military operations have intensified in the province since March 22, sowing fear among local residents, he said.

Bolinget said that while the 41st IB’s claims undergoing “clearing operations” in Abra communities, the real score is an increasing toll of human rights violations. Military operations by the 41st IB led to the illegal interrogation of five Lacub farmers on March 26. The locals were brought to the Lagangilang headquarters then to Camp Villamor in Bangued. As of press time, one still remains in detention.

In a dialogue with officers of the 41st IB on April 2 in Brgy. Buanao in Bangilo, Bolinget said, 2nd Lt. Juju Tovillo admitted he led the operations on March 26, including the March 23 operations where three Lacub locals were indiscriminately fired at. Later, the soldiers reportedly made the peasants sign a document stating that they were not wounded during the incident.

Bolinget said that about 21 soldiers surrounded the house of a local resident in Buanao in the early morning of April 1 in their full battle gear with firearms poised to fire, under the command of a certain 1st Lt. De Mesa (first name unknown as of press time). The soldiers, emerging from a nearby forest on that day appeared to be taking the community under siege, Bolinget said.

The series of events continues to sow terror among the community members, he said. The officers refused to reveal their identities until they were pressured during the dialogue, he added.

After the dialogue, Buanao Barangay Captain Perfecto Matnao was interrogated by 41st IB elements.

The soldiers too have encamped in residents’ homes.

“It is clear that while the 41st IB insists that the incidents were part of their clearing operations, the real intent of their actions is to sow terror among the Abra folk and disrupt the preparations of the upcoming Cordillera Day”, Bolinget added.

The annual event commemorates Cordillera martyrs and the people’s struggles for the defense of land and life. This year’s theme is “Fight Destructive Mining and Intensified Militarization.”

Bolinget explained that militarization has become an integral part of large-scale mining to keep the operations going and to quell opposition that may arise from affected communities, especially now that the Supreme Court reversed its decision on the Mining Act’s constitutionality.

There are 13 Exploration Permit Applications (EPA) in Abra, five Mineral Sharing Production Agreements (MPSA), and one Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA). Most of these applications are from foreign companies.

In the Cordillera Mining Conference held last month, the CPA reported that mining giants are increasingly employing the military to protect their operations.

The CPA condemned the 41st IB for the series of HRVs it committed. The said unit agreed to hold its operations during the Cordillera Day celebrations, Bolinget said.

He stressed however that while the 41st Ib remains in Abra, HRVs will continually mount. # ATB for NORDIS

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