CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Some 100 families in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija have remained in evacuation centers for two weeks now amid military operations against the New People’s Army (NPA), prompting the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to check on reports that the evacuees are starving.
Lawyer Danilo Valdez of the CHR in Central Luzon said that a lawyer and a special investigator from his office here were sent the other day to Barangays Villa Rica and Masbang in Pantabagan following reports of the displacement of local folk.
He said the two will submit their report on their findings today. There were initial reports that the evacuees are now starving and that their properties, including crops were harvested by unidentified folk who also had allegedly butchered their animals.
The families were told to move to evacuation centers after the NPA ambushed last Jan. 31 a group of soldiers from the 71st infantry battalion (IB) on board an M35 truck at kilometer 5 of the national highway in Pantabangan. A soldier was killed while two others were wounded during the incident. The military then initiated pursuit operations against the rebels.
In a telephone interview with the Punto, Maj. Charlemagne Batayola Jr., spokesperson of the Army’s 7th infantry division based in Nueva Ecija, admitted that some 100 families continued to be displaced in the two barangays in Pantabangan, but insisted the decision to move them out of their homes was decided by municipal government officials.
He said residents of Villa Rica were brought to a barangay hall while those of Malbang have been staying at the barangay high school.
Batayola, however, denied allegations that the evacuees are starving. “They have remained abundant in relief goods from the local government. As a matter of fact, some of the Aeta families even prefer to prolong their stay at the evacuation centers because they get free food and other needs,” he added.
Batayola also blamed the NPA for allegedly destroying the farms of the evacuees who, he added, are allowed to visit their farms and other properties every now and then.
Asked whether it would not be safe for the families to return to their homes, Batayola said yes, but that this move is in the hands of municipal officials of Pantabangan.
“The actual military operations is being done by the 702nd brigade in Ma. Aurora in Aurora province, and that’s far from Malbang and Villa Rica,” he noted.
At the same time, Batayola said that the ambush by the NPA in Pantangan last Jan. 31 was a mere ploy to divert continuing military operations in Ma. Aurora.
He said that a group of at least 26 armed NPA guerrillas are being hunted down by the military in the forested mountains of Ma. Aurora.
Before the ambush of the military forces last Jan. 31, the 7th ID said the 702nd IB had been on “heightened internal security operations in the tri-boundaries of Nueva Ecija, Aurora and Nueva Vizcaya”. The operations resulted in armed clashes with NPA groups led by its top local leaders including Ely Taray Agmaliw alias Omeng and Benjamin Peralta alias Onil in Ma. Aurora and Pantabangan, respectively.
Lawyer Danilo Valdez of the CHR in Central Luzon said that a lawyer and a special investigator from his office here were sent the other day to Barangays Villa Rica and Masbang in Pantabagan following reports of the displacement of local folk.
He said the two will submit their report on their findings today. There were initial reports that the evacuees are now starving and that their properties, including crops were harvested by unidentified folk who also had allegedly butchered their animals.
The families were told to move to evacuation centers after the NPA ambushed last Jan. 31 a group of soldiers from the 71st infantry battalion (IB) on board an M35 truck at kilometer 5 of the national highway in Pantabangan. A soldier was killed while two others were wounded during the incident. The military then initiated pursuit operations against the rebels.
In a telephone interview with the Punto, Maj. Charlemagne Batayola Jr., spokesperson of the Army’s 7th infantry division based in Nueva Ecija, admitted that some 100 families continued to be displaced in the two barangays in Pantabangan, but insisted the decision to move them out of their homes was decided by municipal government officials.
He said residents of Villa Rica were brought to a barangay hall while those of Malbang have been staying at the barangay high school.
Batayola, however, denied allegations that the evacuees are starving. “They have remained abundant in relief goods from the local government. As a matter of fact, some of the Aeta families even prefer to prolong their stay at the evacuation centers because they get free food and other needs,” he added.
Batayola also blamed the NPA for allegedly destroying the farms of the evacuees who, he added, are allowed to visit their farms and other properties every now and then.
Asked whether it would not be safe for the families to return to their homes, Batayola said yes, but that this move is in the hands of municipal officials of Pantabangan.
“The actual military operations is being done by the 702nd brigade in Ma. Aurora in Aurora province, and that’s far from Malbang and Villa Rica,” he noted.
At the same time, Batayola said that the ambush by the NPA in Pantangan last Jan. 31 was a mere ploy to divert continuing military operations in Ma. Aurora.
He said that a group of at least 26 armed NPA guerrillas are being hunted down by the military in the forested mountains of Ma. Aurora.
Before the ambush of the military forces last Jan. 31, the 7th ID said the 702nd IB had been on “heightened internal security operations in the tri-boundaries of Nueva Ecija, Aurora and Nueva Vizcaya”. The operations resulted in armed clashes with NPA groups led by its top local leaders including Ely Taray Agmaliw alias Omeng and Benjamin Peralta alias Onil in Ma. Aurora and Pantabangan, respectively.
