CABANATUAN CITY – A coalition of farmers’ organization sought an investigation by the Office of the President and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) over alleged heightened militarization and harassment among their ranks by elements of three Army battalions in different parts of Nueva Ecija.
Ignacio Ortiz, head of the Alyansa ng Mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon – Nueva Ecija (AMGL-NE) told newsmen in a hastily called press conference at their office here Friday that residents of the municipalities of Carranglan, Guimba, Cuyapo and Bongabon are allegedly at the receiving end of the government drive against them.
“Tatlong batalyon ng military ang nakakalat sa buong probinsiya ng Nueva Ecija,” Ortiz said, identifying them as the 69th, 91st, and 84th Infantry Battalions. He claimed that these military forces allegedly encamped in several barangay halls and day care centers sow fear among residents and “prejudiced the people’s free movements.”
“Sa kasalakuyan, mas masahol ang paraan ng panghihimasok ng mga militar at naghahasik ng matinding takot sa mamamayan sa iba’t iang lugar sa buong probinsya,” said Ortiz.
In Barangay Antipolo, Bongabon, residents were asked to log in and log out in a book of records upon entering and getting out of the village at certain times of the day, according to Ortiz.
The military, he claimed, also capitalizes on the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Sustainable Livelihood Project in 32 villages in Guimba town, by threatening benefi ciaries of exclusion when they include militants in their roster.
“Hindi pwede pag may taga labas, kung kailangan kaming makialam ay papasok kami,” Ortiz quoted a ranking army officer as telling members of Liga ng Manggagawang Bukid (LMB), the project benefi ciaries.
He also lamented red tagging or linking farmers organizations to communist or terrorist organizations which, he said, endanger the lives of their members.
He lamented that a ranking military officer told the Provincial Development Council in a recent meeting that AMGL, LMB, SamBaloc (a group of farmers in Sto. Domingo town) Gabriela and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) were “communist terrorists.”
The AMGL and allied groups, he said, will conduct a series of protests to condemn the alleged militarization in the countryside.
Ortiz called on Pres. Duterte and the CHR to investigate such allegations.
It is necessary, he said, that an impartial investigation be conducted to once and for all stop violations of human rights in the province.
Capt. Catherine Hapin, head of the 7th Infantry Division public affairs office, would not comment saying she will have to refer it to the Army commander.
This developed as barangays Bagting and Calabasa in Gabaldon town declared the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) as “persona non grata” through a resolution passed by its local peace and order council in a meeting held last July 1, 2019.
