100 families ‘starving’ in evacuation centers”5 Army men, 11 NPA rebels slain in clashes

By Liam Anacleto

PANTABANGAN, Nueva Ecija – Five army troops were and 11 New People’s Army guerillas were slain in a series of clashes in Nueva Ecija and Aurora provinces the past days, reports from military officials said.

This, as 112 families of indigenous groups are reportedly now starving in evacuation centers here after being driven out from the Sierra Madre ranges when Army troopers and NPA guerrillas clashed last week

But the Commission on Human Rights in Central Luzon said its investigating team found the displaced families “well-fed” and in good health.

“It is not true that they are starving. On the contrary, they were well supplied with food,” lawyer Jasmine Regino, CHR regional director, told the media.

Regino sent a team to Pantabangan last week to check condition of the families who she said “voluntarily fled” as they feared for their safety after NPA rebels ambushed a contingent of the Army’s 702nd Infantry Brigade in their town last Jan. 31, killing one soldier.

Five government troopers died as of latest count while eight NPA rebels reportedly surrendered to Army authorities in Barangay Labi, Bongabon on Feb. 7.

Three NPA rebels were also reportedly killed and an Army soldier was wounded in an encounter in Aurora morning of Feb. 12.

Men of the 71st Infantry Battalion reportedly encountered a band of about 20 guerrillas while in combat patrol in Barangay Galintuha, Ma. Aurora town.

Communist rebels were reportedly trying to establish their remaining stronghold in Central Luzon.

Meanwhile, Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio M. Umali wnet to Pantabangan to assess the situation, fearing the ongoing conflict between the Army and rebel group might displace civilians in the area.

The refugees came from barangays Malbang, Maria Aurora town, Aurora, and Villarica, Pantabangan.

The NPA rebels originally numbering 36 tried to move to Bongabon, Nueva Ecija since Feb. 7 but were reportedly pushed back by Army troopers of the 702nd and 48 Infantry Battalions.

The Philippine National Police also deployed a small group to reinforce the Army contingent in the area.

As of Feb. 8, only eight families remained in the immediate area of conflict with the heads of families saying they are staying on, risking death. "We would die anyway, so we would rather stay and not lose everything," they said.

The refugees carrying with them all their earthly possessions claimed they feared getting hit in the crossfire between the two warring groups.

This, as Umali requested Maj. Gen. Ralph A. Villanueva, commanding general of the 7th Infantry ("Kaugnay") Division based in Fort Ramon Magsaysay, Palayan City, to observe strictly the rules on engagement to avoid inflicting harm to the civilian population.

At present, Army soldiers were patrolling the borders of Nueva Ecija, Aurora, and Quirino to ensure that the NPA rebels do not move over to Bongabon.

The Army reported at least five enemy casualties. The Army suffered one fatality.

Meanwhile, reports on starvation of the evacuees prompted the Commission on Human Rights to a send a lawyer and a special investigator to Barangays Villa Rica and Masbang in Pantabangan town to investigate, said lawyer Danilo Valdez of CHR-Central Luzon.

The evacuees crops had reportedly been harvested by unidentified folk and their livestock slaughtered.

The families were told to move to the evacuation centers after the NPA ambushed last Jan. 31 men of the Army’s 71st Infantry Battalion on board an M35 truck at Kilometer 5 of the national highway in Pantabangan.

Maj. Charlemagne Batayola Jr., spokesman of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division based in Nueva Ecija told newsmen some 100 families have been displaced in the two Pantabangan barangays.

But Batayola said it was the decision of the municipal officials to evacuate the villagers.

He said residents of Villa Rica were brought to a barangay hall, and those of Malbang, to the barangay high school.

Batayola, however, denied 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 said.

Batayola blamed the rebels for destroying the villagers’ farms.