Friday, September 26, 2008 Rachel ‘carried a rifle’
IF two witnesses are to be believed, Rachelle Mae Palang identified herself as Hannah to a family in a mountain village of Zamboanguita town, Negros Oriental.
Jesus Cañete, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) investigator in Dumaguete City, told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday that they were able to get two witnesses who claimed that Palang had an Armalite rifle in her backpack.
She also reportedly gave them a lecture on the need for reforms.
The witnesses claimed that Palang was with about 24 persons armed with Armalite and M203 launchers when they first saw her on Sunday. She and the other armed persons reportedly slept in their house until Monday morning in Sitio Taguik, Barangay Nasig-id, Zamboanguita.
The witnesses also claimed there was no medical mission there because they were the only inhabitants of that area.
They said the only medicines Palang gave them were two paracetamol tablets because one of them complained of a headache.
The group allegedly stayed until Monday morning before they asked for directions to Sitio Langub.
Guide
On Tuesday, some of Palang’s companions allegedly returned and asked one of the witnesses to guide them to another place. On the way, one of them allegedly threatened to push him off a cliff because they suspected him of being an informant. However, he managed to convince them he was not and he was allowed to return home.
On Thursday afternoon, after the witness returned home from his stay in Nasig-id Proper, the witness noted there was nobody home.
He walked to his son’s house nearby and saw a group of soldiers with three bodies. He recognized one of the slain ones as the woman who identified herself as Hannah.
Cañete said he showed them four photos of Palang and the witnesses were sure it was Hannah.
Cañete admitted he would have wanted the bodies autopsied instead of just a post mortem exam as an autopsy would reveal the trajectory of the bullets.
Senior Supt. Augusto Marquez Jr., director for the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office, said they tried to have the bodies of the three slain persons autopsied but relatives wanted to claim these at once.
He denied he intentionally delayed the release of the bodies to the kin of Jerrey Cabungcag and Bernardo Villalongja, saying he only required them to present all the necessary documents to make sure they released the bodies to the rightful claimants.
Cañete submitted copies of the statements of the witnesses to the CHR 7 office yesterday afternoon.
He said he will have to verify from other sources if the statements of the witnesses were true.
Resented
Earlier though, barangay captains in two mountain barangays sent certifications that no group coordinated with them to conduct medical missions there.
Saying he “resents” the comments made by Provincial Board (PB) Member Victor Maambong, Lt. Gen. Pedro Ike Inserto of the Central Command called on the official to visit the encounter site and see for himself what transpired in the mountains of Dauin, Negros Oriental.
Inserto was miffed at Maambong’s use of the word “dubious” when he talked about the circumstances of the death of Rachelle Mae Palang.
Inserto felt that the use of the word already “prejudged” the outcome of an investigation that is yet to be concluded.
He said it did not matter if members of militant organizations used the word, but he felt bad that a government official made those comments in public.
“As a government official, we are agents of authority. I resent it. I am aggrieved,” Inserto told reporters.
But Maambong yesterday denied making the “dubious” comment.
NBI’s help
Instead, he said he just raised suspicion over the incident considering that residents claimed there was no encounter between Palang’s group and government troops.
Inserto’s resentment and alleged reluctance to conduct a proper probe, Maambong added, are now making him believe that the so-called encounter was indeed “dubious.”
Because of this, he said that Palang’s family plans to seek the help of the National Bureau of Investigation 7 to conduct a separate probe on the incident.
Also yesterday, the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) wrote that it supports the call for a deeper probe into the alleged encounter.
“Witnesses are yet to corroborate their statements (that of the military and Palang’s family and friends), particularly those involved in the alleged encounter,” the TFDP, through Visayas coordinator Leonor Gomez, wrote.
While saying that the group does not encourage armed struggle, TFDP said the death of the three, regardless of the claims that they were NPA rebels, exposed the country’s “grave socio-economic political conditions.”
TFDP said they conducted their own investigations and found that the bodies were already decomposing when their families claimed them.
Another encounter occurred in Sta. Catalina town yesterday morning, wounding one civilian volunteer and one soldier.
Troops of the 79th Infantry Battalion met with suspected New People’s Army rebels in Sitio Bagacay, Barangay Milagrosa, Sta. Catalina at 10 a.m.
Reports on the incident were sketchy as follow-up operations were ongoing. (MEA/With GMD/KAB)
