Around 128 residents of Malalay village in Balayan, Batangas have been displaced as the 59th Infantry Battalion (IB) continued its clearing operations following an alleged encounter between state forces and the New People’s Army (NPA) over the weekend.
After the encounter, the military continued to threaten civilians that they will be shot if they go to the vicinity of the encounter, said Hailey Pecayo, spokesperson of Tanggol Batangan.
“Noong pinabalik na ang mga sibilyan [noong Martes], pinilit sila ng 59th IB na magsagawa ng peace rally na nag-co-condemn sa mga NPA. [Pero] may mga kumakalat na mga video sa Facebook na mayroon pa ring putukan at natatakot sila,” added Pecayo.
Karapatan Southern Tagalog’s (ST) fact-finding team was sent to probe the affected residents and surrounding communities. But Balayan Mayor Emmanuel Salvador Fronda II declined their help, saying that it is his local government’s duty to provide assistance.
The joint operation also led to the death of one military and seven NPA fighters along the border of Dilao and Malalay villages in Balayan on Saturday.
As three remains have been recovered on Monday, Karapatan ST’s team of lawyers and paralegals, with the family of the casualties, went to a Batangas funeral home. But they were welcomed by around 15 members of the 59th IB and the Philippine National Police who were blocking, surveilling, and red-tagging the family and the team, and preventing them from recovering and identifying the remains.
The military’s interception violates the resolution adopted in 1974 by the United Nations General Assembly to “facilitate the disinterment and the return of remains, if requested by their families” in armed conflicts. This also transgresses the International Humanitarian Law with respect to family life that asserts the families’ right to be provided “with any information [a party] has on their fate.”
When the families of the slain NPA members faced the 59th IB in the police station of Balayan, the military only told them, “pasensya na, sana maka-move on po kayo,” according to Pecayo.
On Tuesday, three more bodies were recovered. But on Wednesday, they were taken by the military to the adjacent town Tuy, to supposedly undergo autopsy and burial, according to Karapatan ST’s post.
“Hinayaan lang nilang mabulok yung mga bangkay. Maraming bangkay yung basag ang mukha to the point na di na ma-recognize ng families. Baka di lang sila basta-bastang binaril,” said Pecayo.
Currently, the remains of one casualty have yet to be found. The family of Joy Mercado, one of the casualties, was able to claim his body on Thursday. But they continue to be surveilled and tailed by the military as they take Mercado to his final resting place. The military also prevented the family from cremating Mercado’s remains.
“Planado [ito] ng militar [at ng] local government unit, pero ano yung ginawa nila para ma-ensure na hindi madadamay yung mga sibilyan sa ganung operation? Wala pa rin silang pino-provide na relief sa mga apektado,” lamented Pecayo.
Last week’s encounter was not the first of the 59th IB’s cases of human rights violations.
Mariano Jolongbayan, a 64-year old fisherfolk organizer of Samahan ng Anakdagat sa Batangas, was last seen in Lian, Batangas on November 17. He has not surfaced until now.
“Sinisisi namin ang 59th IB dahil maliban sa sunod-sunod na encounter nila, marami rin silang dukot na ginagawa sa mga progressives na nagsusulong sa karapatan ng mamamayan,” said Pecayo. “Ang call talaga namin ay palayasin na ang 59th IB dito sa Batangas.”
Militarization continues to hound the countryside. And with the peace talks still in limbo even after the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines inked an agreement on November 23 to resume the negotiations, more civilians will be caught in between exchanges of fire.
This encounter will not stop the military from performing military operations because the peace talks are still only in the exploratory stage, said Col. Medel Aguilar, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, in a radio interview on Monday.
“Sana man lang, habang ongoing yung peace talks, igalang ng estado yung batas ng digma at several humanitarian laws kasi hindi ito ang unang beses na nagkaroon ng napakalalang pag-atake rito sa Batangas. Batay sa nakikita natin, inaapakan at binababoy nila [ang mga batas],” said Pecayo. ●
