Maj. Medel Aguilar of the 10th ID undermining the ceasefire
by false claims of more NPA arrests in Sarangani*
Dencio Madrigal
Commander
Valentin Palamine Command
Regional Operational Command
NPA-Far South Mindanao Region
December 16, 2010
On December 14 or two days before the ceasefire between the NDFP and GRP, 10th ID spokesperson Maj. Medel Aguilar claims to have arrested an NPA leader and four others in Brgy. Upper Suyan, Malapatan, Sarangani Province. This is a patent lie and a disservice to the current ceasefire agreement. The so-called NPA leader and members named Tuning Mungkil, Joel Mungkil, Benito Balbino, Ricky Mungkil and Anthony Salway never joined any unit of the New People's Army and have never been members of the underground revolutionary movement. They are plain barrio folks whose misfortune is that they happen to live in the RSOT area of the 73rd IB and, by proximity, are targets of constant military harassment, psyops and human rights violations. Unfortunately, they also live within the target site of Looc Mining of San Miguel Corporation. It appears that Major Aguilar of the 10th ID is bent on accusing these innocent villagers as NPAs in his effort to facilitate the easy entry of the mining company and silence opposition to the ongoing encroachment of big business into the Blaan's ancestral lands.
While all the NPA units and members under the Valentin Palamine Regional Operations Command are seriously abiding by the CPP directive for a ceasefire from 16 December 2010 to 3 January 2011, Major Aguilar's 10th ID is bent on undermining the peace process with his arrogant, false claims of "NPA captives and surrenderees." We hope this is not undue provocation on the part of the 10th ID in order to derail or sabotage the ongoing ceasefire. We hope the 10th ID-AFP, for once, will abide by the spirit of the ceasefire by upholding the International Humanitarian Law and desist from inflicting human rights violations on the people, especially the lumads in our territories. We demand that these five civilian victims of the 73rd IB-AFP be immediately and unconditionally released and compensated for the physical and moral damages inflicted on them. Moreover they must be fully paid for the economic constraints their family are suffering as a result of this disruption to their livelihood.
We reiterate the national call that "while the mutual ceasefire is in effect, all commands and units of the NPA and the people's militia shall be in a defensive mode at both the strategic and tactical levels but shall remain vigilant against any encroachment on the territory of the people's democratic government, surveillance or offensive operations by the armed commands and units of the GRP. Active self-defense shall be undertaken only in the face of clear and imminent danger.
"All hostile actions or movements of the enemy armed forces shall be monitored and reported … in order to provide continuous, timely and accurate information to the NDFP Negotiating Panel regarding compliance with or violations of the mutual ceasefire. " Hostile actions would include counterinsurgency activities and/or intelligence operations masquerading as 'Peace and Development Teams' of the 73rd IB, 27th IB and 39th IB, the PNP, the task Force KITACOM and paramilitary units of the AFP.
Lastly, may we remind Maj. Medel Aguilar and the 10th ID, of the AFP's responsibility to fully abide by the Ceasefire agreement between the NDFP and the GRP.
* Url:http://theprwcblogs.blogspot.com/2010/12/maj-medel-aguilar-of-10th-id.html
