links: http://www.afp.mil.ph/index.php/14-afp-data-articles/1167-npa-kills-5-civilians-in-renewed-atrocities-in-agusan-del-sur
NPA Kills 5 Civilians in Renewed Atrocities in Agusan del Sur
- Published on Wednesday, 19 June 2013 13:12
- Written by PAO, AFP
CAMP GENERAL EMILIO AGUINALDO, Quezon City –
The communist rebel group New People’s Army (NPA) killed five innocent
civilians and burned five heavy equipment to include farm tractors and
bulldozers in an attack at Esperanza Town, Agusan del Sur, yesterday
morning.
In a report by the
4th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, more or less 40 armed men
believed to be members of the NPA put ablaze the heavy equipment 9:30
AM, in Sitio Kamarangan, Barangay Milagros, Esperanza, Agusan del Sur.
The burned heavy equipment were owned by Shannalyne Corporation that was reportedly hired by the Esperanza Local Government Unit (LGU) for the land preparation in the planting of Acacia Mangium trees over a land awarded through the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) granted to the Higaonons in the area.
Two
Infantry Companies of 26IB that are undergoing COPD Training at
Headquarters, 26thInfantry Battalion in San Nicolas, Talacogon, Agusan
del Sur were immediately utilized to conduct pursuit operations. Another
Infantry Company that is presently consolidated at Headquarters, 402
Brigade in Bancasi, Butuan City was alerted to supplement the pursuing
troops.
Likewise, two UH-1H Helis
that were pre-positioned at Headquarters, TOG10, Philippine Air Force in
Lumbia Airport in Cagayan De Oro City were dispatched to Headquarters
401st Brigade in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur to facilitate aerial troop
insertion.
The Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) condemned such act of violence perpetrated by the NPA
citing that “the incident is not a form of armed struggle but an
outright criminal act. Their armed struggle has degenerated to criminal
acts which put innocent civilian lives in danger, and cause serious
damage to their livelihood.”
This
recent attack by the NPA is a heinous crime, and violates human rights,
R.A. 9851, and International Humanitarian Law. It is in these atrocious
violations that the people of Agusan have been clamoring for the NPA to
end their armed struggle.
The AFP has
recently denounced the attacks against civilians perpetrated by the
NPAs, projecting themselves as a pro-people armed movement, following an
ambush that killed eight civilians and a policeman in La Castellana
town, Negros last January 27.
The
incident in Agusan del Sur describes another brutal, anti-development
and anti-people terroristic act by the rebel group. It did not only left
grieving relatives crying for justice for their dead but also left
jobless communities whose mainstay in surviving their families are jobs
offered by the firm, and also cutting short the progress and development
in the area.
Shennalyne Corporation
is a non-government organization and private venture that grows
Acacial-Mangium tress, a project that greatly benefited at least two
hundred Higaonons in the area.
For
its part, the AFP assured that it will not allow incidents like this
hinder peace and development in the area. Collaboration between LGUs,
government agencies, non-government organizations and other stakeholders
is still the best resolution to these unproductive and inhumane
atrocities by the New People’s Army rebels.
AFP Websites
Links:
http://www.afp.mil.ph/index.php/14-afp-data-articles/1167-npa-kills-5-civilians-in-renewed-atrocities-in-agusan-del-sur
PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
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