Civilians -- casualties in insurgency war

EDITORIAL

The fight between insurgents particularly the New People’s Army and the militaryin Cagayan province has become more vicious with reports of killings on both sides.

What is now of grave concern is the alleged killing and torture of innocent civilians by the military and their followers which reportedly made the NPA “avenge” these by putting to death  two military intelligence officers and a militiaman, earlier reported to have been abducted and executed by the NPA in the province.

As an offshoot, 69 members of left-leaning militant organizations were charged with the murder of the two intelligence officers and militiaman. Included in the charge sheet were officers of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) and a former leader of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), human rights workers belonging to Karapatan-Cagayan Valley, Anakpawis Party-list, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), Gabriela Women’s Party, and Piston-Isabela.

Complainants in the case are relatives of the two intelligence operatives of the Philippine Army’s 17th Infantry Batallion (17th IB) and a member of the Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU), according to a report of CEGP-Cagayan Valley,

The militant groups alleged the NPA captured and executed the three for allegedly killing residents of Zinundungan Valley, Cagayan and harassing indigenous Aggay, Malaweg, and Kalinga communities.

The 69 respondents in the case were reportedly part of a fact-finding mission (FFM) on Sept. 16-19 that visited several towns in Zinundungan Valley to hear the complaints of residents and members of the Aggay, Malaweg, and Kalinga communities about alleged human rights violations and the murder of farmer-leaders by the military and their minions on suspicion of being NPA rebels.

According to CEGP president Marc LinoAbila, the filing of criminal charges against those who joined the FFM “is a direct attack on the rights and safety of the progressive leaders in Cagayan. Fascist attacks on activist leaders have become rampant across the nation. These are brazen violations of the democratic rights of the Filipino people.”

According to militant groups, under the government’s counter-insurgency campaign called OplanBayanihan (OPB), rights of people’s organizations, their leaders and members are not respected by armed State enforcers like the military,

Be that as it may, the filing of charges against members of militant groups would be a test of the country’s justice system. But then, considering the slow pace of attaining justice in this country, those who are wrongly charged and their families suffer. The courts have become a battlefield in the government’s war against insurgents and their perceived supporters, while civilians, particularly in remote countrysides are often the casualties.