Last of three parts
TANDAG CITY, Surigao del Sur––“The military and Bagani have a common enemy: the NPA,” Tandag Bishop Odchimar said. But the Bishop also noted that he had copies of extortion letters “coming from so-called Bagani and from the NPA.” “The Lumads are caught like a bibingka (rice cake): fire above and fire below,” to which Sen. Teofisto Guingona III replied, “bibingka talaga.” The Bishop said “drastic measures” must be undertaken now to avoid a repeat of violent incidents. “I don’t know whether there is an ulterior motive. Why are these Lumads being harassed?” he asked. The Bishop also wants to know why Secretary Corazon Soliman of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) offered a relocation site for the “bakwits.” “If there is relocation, then there might be an ulterior motive of removing these people from that place. Why offer relocation when the people want to return to their place?” he asked. But Surigao del Sur Gov. Johnny Pimentel clarified that what Soliman offered was a temporary site that would serve as halfway house until the evacuees are “ready to return home.” In an interview shortly after the probe was adjourned on Friday afternoon, Odchimar said “some questions” were not answered. He said the military and the paramilitary have a common enemy, the NPA “so there could have been an unholy alliance. Because according to the claims of the people, no concrete action has been made in order to bring to justice the murderers and also the perpetrators of harassments.” He said the paramilitary group seems to have been “just tolerated” as there are perceptions that “in some situations, the paramilitary helped the military fight the NPA so if this paramilitary group commits some crimes, they are reluctant to apprehened them because meron silang pinagsamahan” (they are allies). “The perception is there is collusion between armed groups and the miltiary and there seems to be indications like the ones we cited,” Odchimar said. Gov. Pimentel told the Senate Probe on Thursday that he hopes the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) “would not be offended” but the perceptions that the “Magahat-Bagni” are supported by the AFP persists. “If (they are) not supported, then why can’t we apprehend or arrest these people” when the provincial government had already asked for the disbandment of the group “as early as last year.” He cited the extortion activities of the group in Barobo town. “How come the Bagani are roaming the province with high powered firearms?... How many more will die before this group is disbanded?” Gov. Pimentel as well as Lumad leaders and advocates also asked why the Bagani forces set up camps “near the camp of the Army,” an allegation the military denied. “Are they saints that they cannot be arrested? Is our government useless that it cannot arrest these forces? “I understand, it’s okay for me if the Bagani were used in counter-insurgency. Let them do their part but if civilians are harmed, that is not right.” Bishop Odchimar said his question on whether surrender exonerates the person of a crime, also went unanswered. Odchimar, however, expressed hope the Senate probe could lead to a resolution of this “very complex problem.” But the Bishop cautioned Lt. Gen. Aurelio Baladad, chief of the Eastern Mindanao Comand, from sending more troops to the province. Baladad told the Senate probe on Friday morning that they are “contemplating on bringing in more troops” to help in the disbandment of these armed groups and go after the killers. In matters of law enforcement, such as the arrest of criminals and disarming of armed groups, it is the PNP that takes the lead, with the AFP assisting. In counter-insurgency, it is the AFP that takes the lead, with the PNP assisting. “I think there is still that lingering feeling against the military and the animosity among the people,” the Bishop said. “I went around the sports center (where the evacuees are) asking at random and the pervading sentiment was that of fear (of) the military, the seeming animosity,” he explained. “Now at this stage, to be bringing immediately the soldiers, the intention might be noble but …” Odchimar said. But he also acknowledged that he does not believe the police can do it alone. ‘They could not even serve the warrants of arrest,” he said. Baladad said Surigao del Sur is second nationwide, after Compostela Valley, in terms of the NPA’s armed strength. It is also in the province of Surigao del Sur, he said, where the yearly celebration of the anniversaries of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New Peoples’ Army are celebrated. Maj. Gen. Oscar Lactao, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, said they will take all the necessary steps to support the PNP in arresting the perpetrators. “Together with the PNP, we will put a stop to this,” he vowed. On the alleged coddling of the paramilitary group, Lactao said the Army is a professional organization that “never condones” the presence of lawless armed groups. “I feel so sad,” Sister Stella Matutina, a Benedictine nun based in Marihatag town, emphasized that justice should be given for those who were killed. “They were not NPA. They were civilians.” Matutina said concrete actions must be undertaken for the evacuees who had been staying at the Sports Center here since Sept. 1. “Twelve mothers had given birth and 52 mothers are about to give birth,” she said, adding the evacuees want to go home where their livelihood is. “We want help from you, Senators, (we want) immediate action (so) that these people can go back,” she said. On the disarming of the pramilitary group, the nun said, “.I think we should not evade questions…. our question now is to face problem of people in evacuation centers.” One of the “bakwits” in the evacuation center, Jocelyn Pagalan, a 36-year old Manobo leader, mother of four and grandmother to a four-day old baby at the time of the attack on September 1, told MindaNews they will only return home if their security is guaranteed, the killers are made to answer for their crimes, the military is pulled out from their areas and the “Bagani” is disbanded.
