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Isabela woman confronts CAFGU

DIKAMAY, Isabela (Sept. 21) — In a land enveloped in fear, a small voice shouted bravery. Guns and armory may be the military troop offense, but courage is the defense of the people unwilling to yield to injustice.

After having successfully established a military training ground in Dikamay 1, the Citizen’s Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) were on its quest to spread their power. In July of 2005, the CAFGU started to recruit men from the neighboring barangay, Dikamay 2, when a controversy emerged, questioning the legality of the recruitment.

But Dikamay 2 Barangay Council Member Agustina Gabriel has turned things around. The story started when the commanding officers of CAFGU in Isabela arrived in Dikamay 2 and announced they intended to recruit in the said area. They asked Gabriel to talk with them and the CAFGU explained their intentions and later made her sign a document.

The document, Gabriel claims, was in English and was not explained to her. She added that upon signing the document, she had already felt that something was wrong. The officers even made fun of her as her hand trembled while she signed the paper. Then on, she even convinced two other barangay council members to sign the same resolution to have a back up authorization from the barangay.

Later on, the townspeople began accusing her of bringing the military troops to their town. Accusing fingers were also pointing at her saying that she gave the CAFGU the go signal to recruit men from their town. Denying the accusations, she defended that she never authorized such thing and demanded to see the signed document again. Upon seeing the document, she realized that what she has signed was just a motion to recruit.

All the while, she said, she understood it as a resolution, which the barangay captain had authorized and her signature was just to back up the barangay captain. She then demanded to withdraw her signature and even begged the commanding officer to pull out her negotiations with the CAFGU. However, the CAFGU declined and said that it was an irrevocable deal.

Gabriel then turned to Pedro Lopez, chairperson of Danggayan Dagiti Mannalon ti Isabela (DAGAMI Jones). The duo had a consultation and clarification in front of the whole barangay constituents. Eventually, they also turned to Karapatan- Cagayan Valley for help. Karapatan CV, with the help of Baby Mendiola, requested a copy of the resolution and helped them settle it with the mayor. Fortunately, the mayor admitted that he never signed any deal with the CAFGU. The mayor and the Karapatan-CV agreed that they should file a case for an illegal recruitment.

For now, the case is still being processed. Nevertheless, for the 10 months that the CAFGU had remained in the area, several human rights violations have been recorded. There have been reports of a 15-year-old CAFGU trainee who had escaped from camp is being harassed and threatened from the soldiers. Lopez can even attest that there would be constant nights when men were pulled out from their homes any time at night for interrogations as to who is supporting the guerillas in the area. The interrogations, he said, were even conducted at gunpoint. In some cases, women were violated and treated as “past time”. Forced recruitment and recruitment of minors is also reportedly rampant.

Although the CAFGU started firmly, Lopez said that they were not successful with the training. It has been reported that less that one quarter of the trainees finished the course. The promised P1,800 family allowances were not met allegedly due to budget deficit.

For now, Gabriel beamed that she had regained the people’s trust. She also thanked the people and authorities who had helped her clear her name and untangle the misunderstanding.

Gabriel’s courage, accompanied with a great deal of conscience has prevented a town from being engulfed by the military power. # Ge-ann Malicdem for NORDIS

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