With the start of the Balikatan Military Exercises looming, multi-sectoral movements against the Balikatan have stepped up their attacks against the said joint military exercises.
According to KARAPATAN-Bikol Paul Vincent Casilihan, the number of human rights violations reported has increased significantly in the weeks preceding the start of Balikatan.
The latest reported violations, according to him, were in Ligao City, Albay and San Jose, Camarines Sur.
In Ligao, 2-year old Rafaela Polvorido was killed in an encounter between soldiers of the Philippine Army and the New People’s Army (NPA). He said that initial military reports claimed that Rafaela, her two siblings, and her mother Jocelyn, were hit by rounds fired by the fleeing NPA rebels as they sought refuge in the house of Jocelyn’s brother. Raphaela was rushed to the hospital but died two days later as the result of shrapnel wounds to the back of her head.
A fact-finding commission led by KARAPATAN-Bikol, Casilihan revealed, discovered that the shrapnel which killed Raphaela and injured four members of the Polvorido family, came from the side of the pursuing soldiers.
“Father, I was hit”
In San Jose town meanwhile, Domingo Barbado, 22, a fisherman was killed and another was injured as armed men, purported to be the security detail of the town’s mayor, Jaime Deleña, opened fire on the fishermen’s boats about a kilometer away from the shoreline.
“Father, I was hit,” shouted Domingo Barbado in Bikol dialect to his father Bertito Barbado, 66, after their boat, F/B Patricia Kate, was strafed by armed men last March 3 in the waters of San Jose, Camarines Sur.
Bertito Barbado, an eyewitness to the shooting incident narrated that they went to sea at around 2pm of the same day with 16 other men to catch fish. After failing to do so, they went ashore. While en route, they chanced upon some armed men some 10 meters from their fishing vessel.
“We were blocked by armed men in a long boat with Mayor Jaime Deleña aboard,” he said. He furthered that three of their fishing buddies were wounded in the strafing; William Arroyo, 49, Ricky Fernandez Bar, 31 and Andy Pana, 18 all residents of Brgy. Adjangao, San Jose, Camarines Sur.
After five minutes of strafing, some of their buddies were wounded with Domingo Barbado being fatally wounded. Ryan Señar, 29, one of the fishermen confirmed that some 15-20 armed men including the mayor of Presentacion was involved in the shooting.
William Fernandez also recounted that the shooting involved Mayor Deleña of Presentacion. “I saw the mayor fired the first shot and his men were carrying long firearms followed,” he said. He furthered that the mayor’s men were carrying highpowered guns.
Domingo Barbado and three others were brought to the San Jose Medicare Hospital. Barbado was proclaimed dead on arrival at around 4pm.
According to residents of barangay Adjangao, the armed men in the shooting, after reaching the shores announced that they were involved in chance encounter with New Peoples Army in the area.
The victims on the other hand, vehemently deny that they are members of the New People’s Army.
Casilihan claimed that the fishermen were fired upon without warning after Deleña’s boat approached their boats. The KARAPATAN-Bikol representative also said that both incidents were part of the “clearing operations” conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Bikol, prior to Balikatan’s official start in April.
Caught in the crossfire
According to him, KARAPATAN is concerned with the reports that citizens might get caught in armed encounters between the rebels and the military as the clearing operations gain momentum.
He also explained that aside from the impromptu investigations conducted by KARAPATAN, the group is also holding forums, symposiums, and open discussions with the residents and officials of barangays affected directly by the military exercises.
Bong Responde, BAYAN’s spokesperson, also echoed Casilihan’s observation, saying that the group is also in the process of conducting barangay-level discussions to address the residents’ questions and requests.
He explained that the open discussions complement the mobilization of member’s of the militant sector during rallies aimed at expressing their discontent over the holding of the Balikatan in Bikol.Responde claimed that around 20,000 people attended the regional grand rally held on Jan. 22 while 13,000 attended the three-day caravan in Albay on Jan. 22-25.
The BAYAN spokesperson said that this was proof enough that Bikolanos were against Balikatan. He also shared that there were reports of American soldiers accompanying Filipino soldiers in combat operations in Ragay, Camarines Sur. A large contingent of American military personnel and helicopters were also allegedly seen by local residents on an isolated island in Lagonoy gulf. In Masbate, residents also reported seeing a US unmanned spy plane crash in a remote rural area. However, the said report is yet to be confirmed.
In February, close to a hundred US intelligence personnel were also reportedly seen in Masbate earlier this month, according to Responde. He said that these incidents have further angered the island’s residents.