Tuesday, March 27, 2007 Militant group accuses military of harassing Digos volunteer By Ben O. Tesiorna
A WOMAN-oriented group accused the Army's 39th Infantry Battalion in Digos City of harassing a Gabriela party-list member in Sitio Bandera, Barangay Balabag.
The victim, a 42-year-old married woman with four children, said she was harassed in two separate incidents by seven Army soldiers led by certain lieutenant Jerson Ho.
According to her, two soldiers came to her house on March 6 and asked her to go to the military makeshift camp in the old cooperative building.
The victim said the military accused her of implementing programs of the New People's Army (NPA) in her barangay and a courier of the rebel group's supplies and allowances of their families.
On March 15, the victim said soldiers came again to her house to ask her to the Army camp but she refused the request because it was already night and told them she would go there the next day.
The following day she went to the camp and was persuaded to attend a meeting with the camp commander for her to denounce her allegiance to the NPA and formally surrender to the authorities.
The victim said she told the soldiers that she had nothing to surrender so she would not attend the meeting.
One soldier, according to her, then said "Kung mapirmahan na ni Arroyo imong pangalan, damputon gyud ka dayon namo. (If Arroyo has signed your name, then we will arrest you immediately)"
To which the woman replied, "kung patyon ko ninyo, timan-i lang na wala koy sala. (If you are going to kill me, just remember I did not do anything wrong)"
The woman then left the Army camp. That evening she discreetly left her home with her children. When the soldiers came to her house the following morning, her mother told them she already left.
It was learned that the military wanted the woman to surrender along with other alleged rebel surrenderees last March 18 "if she wanted to clear her name in the order of battle list."
The Gabriela Women party-list volunteer however denied all their accusations and insisted on going home.
In a statement, Gabriela Women party-list nominee Professor Luz Ilagan said this case is yet another desperate move of the Arroyo administration to quell their growing organization by harassing their volunteers.
The military however denied the accusation leveled against the Army's 39th IB.
Eastern Mindanao Command information officer Major Randy Cabangbang advised the party-list group to file formal charges before the proper courts and not resort to propaganda.
"If there is truth to their accusation then the proper forum is the court. They cannot substantiate their accusation such that they resort to propaganda. It is obvious that they just fabricate these things to portray that soldiers are human rights violators," Cabangbang said.
