Friday, July 04, 2008 2 bishops say military committed rights abuses By Edmund B. Sestoso
GUIHULNGAN, Negros Oriental -- Two bishops from the Visayas said members of the Philippine Army, particularly those deployed in the mountainous Linantuyan village here, committed massive human rights violations.
Confirming the alleged human rights violation of government troopers are Bishop Emeritus Roman B. Tiples Jr. of the Diocese of Bacolod of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) and Bishop Ebenezeer C. Camino of the West Visayas Jurisdiction Area of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP).
The two are pillars of the Inter Faith Movement for Justice and Peace (IFMJP), which is an aggrupation of church and civil libertarian groups that launched the 1st Negros Interfaith Solidarity Mission recently in Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental.
IFMJP was able to validate violations against human rights and international humanitarian law in areas mentioned by different human rights organizations, which conducted earlier investigations particularly in the mountainous barangays of Linantuyan and Trinidad.
Bishops Tiples and Camino said that part of the interfaith mission is to release the confirmation and results of their initial investigation before the national and international fact-finding team can release their own findings.
According to them, the disturbing events in Central Negros for the past months have spurred several concerned institutions across the country to provide immediate relief and redress to the victims of human rights violations.
In Linantuyan, the military continued to use the market place and the barangay hall as their shelter for more than two months now.
The military detachment, which the barangay officials claimed as barangay defense system office, is built amid the populated area, adjacent to the barangay hall, market place, and barangay plaza.
This resulted to the damage of the house of Rosita Sildora when a supposed encounter occurred between the military and the underground New People's Army (NPA), an armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Other findings by IFMJP includes grave threats against those individuals summoned and investigated by the military and malicious and libelous campaign against those who asserted their basic rights.
They also found out that government forces are not wearing nameplates or nametags during their military operations.
In Barangay Trinidad, the bishops together with the other mission members found out that 40 residents who attended the two-day seminar conducted by the military were presented as rebel surrenderees even if they were not actually surrenderees.
