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By Al Jacinto, Correspondent
ZAMBOANGA CITY: Tribal groups on Saturday
accused the Philippine military of trying to block investigations by
independent human rights organizations of alleged abuses by soldiers
and of the plight of people displaced by clashes between the
government and communist and Muslim insurgents in Mindanao.
The groups also charged the military with
human-rights abuses and extrajudicial killings of political
activists and tribesmen suspected of aiding communist rebels. A
tribal leader, Datu Monico Cayog, accused the military, too, of
campaigning to ban militant groups from entering communities in the
provinces.
Cayog, deputy chairman of the independent PASAKA
Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao, claimed
that the commander of the military’s Civil Relations Group, Maj.
Medel Aguilar, urged villagers to ban such groups in their
communities.
The Philippine military has repeatedly accused
the left-leaning organizations, including PASAKA, as fronts of the
New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the outlawed Communist
Party of the Philippines, which broke off peace talks with Manila in
2004. These organizations have denied that they are supporting the
rebels.
Cayog said the alleged abuses by soldiers had
been made public after their victims, mostly indigenous people,
sought help from the militant groups and human rights organizations
in Mindanao.
“Aguilar is merely afraid when human rights
groups enter poor rural villages because their [soldiers] crimes are
exposed,” he added.
Cayog said military operations against
insurgents in Mindanao have displaced thousands of people,
especially in Compostela Valley and nearby provinces, where there
are indigenous tribes.
“We are not the ones who terrorize these
communities. We do not torture or harass these people. We are the
ones who rehabilitate the people and communities which suffer from
military atrocities,” he said.
Cayog said banning the left-wing groups in
civilian communities and refugee areas would deprive many people of
medical and humanitarian services.
“When the government is able to genuinely
provide basic social services to the majority of the poor Filipinos
in the rural areas, when no human-rights violations shall ever
befall civilians, then perhaps there would be no reason for us to go
to them,” he said.
NPA rebels have stepped up their attacks on
government and military targets in Mindanao and killed more than two
dozen targets in recent weeks. On Thursday, insurgents ambushed a
government patrol, wounding at least five militiamen in Davao del
Sur’s Matanao town.
Rebel leaders broke off peace talks after
accusing President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on a deal that would
lead to the release of all political detainees and respect for human
rights and a stop to all extrajudicial killings of activists, among
other allegations.
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