AN OFFICIAL of the 4th Infantry Division (4ID) on Tuesday, April 10, said it is still verifying the reported human rights violations allegedly committed by the military in Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental.
Different militant groups, led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) in Northern Mindanao, documented two victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and frustrated EJKs.
They also listed one victim of torture, six victims of illegal arrest and detention, seven victims of trumped-up charges, 18 victims of threat, harassment and intimidation, 18 victims of forced surrender and two victims of illegal search and seizure from January to March 2018 alone.
Cases of coercion, threat, harassment and intimidation were also recorded, alleging that the supposed 500 residents who surrendered last January 28 was fake.
First Lieutenant Tere Ingente, the 4ID spokesperson, said they are not taking the report lightly, pointing out that its soldiers have always upheld the importance of human rights.
"We are still verifying these reports, whether these are true or not, because what they documented are very specific and detailed, they have names, dates, and the areas where the alleged human rights abuse happened," Ingente said.
"We will find out if these report have basis so we already instructed our line units to verify these reports, until then, we won't be issuing any statement regarding these accusations," she added.
The KMP and Karapatan-Northern Mindanao said that they will be submitting the results of their fact-finding investigations to national and international human rights entities, legislative bodies such as the Senate and Congress, Joint Monitoring Committee, Church entities, and UN bodies such as the Human Rights Committee and Special Rapporteur on Indigenous People, Committee on Internally Displaced Persons.