From InterAksyon (Mar 10): Cordillera rights group urges PNoy to probe Army battalion for deaths of Abra farmer, 2 sons
A human rights group in the Cordillera region is urging President Benigno Aquino III to order an investigation of an Army battalion suspected of being behind the deaths of a 75-year old farmer and his two sons in Abra province.
At the House of Representatives, Kabataan party-list Representative Terry Ridon asked the committee on human rights to investigate the deaths of Licuben Balansi Ligiw and his sons Freddie, 24, single, and Eddie, 42, also single, whose bodies were discovered in a shallow grave in Capualan, Sitio Sucao, Domenglay in Licuan-Baay, Abra on March 8, Saturday.
Earlier, the military described the three as possible victims of execution by the New People’s Army. 1st Lieutenant Rowena Abayon, 5th Infantry Division spokesperson, said the three were last seen on March 1 in the company of 15 rebels.
She also said Freddie Ligiw was a former NPA fighter who surrendered in March 2011.
But the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance said the three were members of the Kakailyan Salakniban Tay Amin ti Nagtaudan (Let Us Protect Our Homeland), the Abra chapter of theCordillera People’s Alliance, which is the oldest indigenous people’s federation in the region.
The CHRA said the organization to which the Ligiws belonged had been the subject of vilification campaigns and branded an NPA front by the 41rst Infantry Battalion.
Freddie, who was indeed a former rebel, was, at the time of his death, also a member of the activist youth group, Anakbayan.
On Monday, Anakbayan and the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines staged protests at Mendiola Bridge and the Department of Justice in Manila to protest the death of Freddie.
In a statement, the CHRA said on February 19 Freddie had been forced by 41st IB troops to act as their guide during an operation in Lenneng, Domenglay, Licuan-Baay.
The CHRA said that, on the morning of March 2, Freddie left their home to join his father and brother at their pacalso or farm hut. The three failed to return home that night.
Anakbayan said on March 4 Freddie was scheduled to meet with human rights groups on being forced to guide the 41st IB.
On March 7, at least 50 residents and officials of Licuan-Baay formed a search team, which found the grave near the Ligiws’ hut.
Domenglay barangay captain Josephine Carino reported this to the town police, which retrieved the cadavers the next day.
When exhumed, the residents said the bodies of the Ligiws were piled up in the grave in fetal positions, their hands tied, and the two sons gagged.
Lawyer Jennifer Asuncion, CHRA vice chairman, said they will be filing cases against the suspects in the deaths of the Ligiws.
However, Cordillera regional police spokesman Vicente Limmong said they still had not identified any suspects and their investigation into the killings is still ongoing. The remains of the Ligiws were brought to the Pineda Funeral Homes in the capital town Bangued for autopsy.
The CHRA called for the demilitarization of Abra, saying the murder of the Ligiws had created a climate of fear in the province.
CHRA chairman Rene Cortes, Asuncion and deputy secretary general Audrey Beltran also urged Brigadier General Felix Brawner, a Cordilleran, to help initiate an impartial investigation of the 41st IB, which is commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Danilo Domingo.
“We do not subscribe to the AFP’s claim that the massacre was perpetrated by the NPA,” the CHRA statement said.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/82381/cordillera-rights-group-urges-pnoy-to-probe-army-battalion-for-deaths-of-abra-farmer-2-sons
A human rights group in the Cordillera region is urging President Benigno Aquino III to order an investigation of an Army battalion suspected of being behind the deaths of a 75-year old farmer and his two sons in Abra province.
At the House of Representatives, Kabataan party-list Representative Terry Ridon asked the committee on human rights to investigate the deaths of Licuben Balansi Ligiw and his sons Freddie, 24, single, and Eddie, 42, also single, whose bodies were discovered in a shallow grave in Capualan, Sitio Sucao, Domenglay in Licuan-Baay, Abra on March 8, Saturday.
Earlier, the military described the three as possible victims of execution by the New People’s Army. 1st Lieutenant Rowena Abayon, 5th Infantry Division spokesperson, said the three were last seen on March 1 in the company of 15 rebels.
She also said Freddie Ligiw was a former NPA fighter who surrendered in March 2011.
But the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance said the three were members of the Kakailyan Salakniban Tay Amin ti Nagtaudan (Let Us Protect Our Homeland), the Abra chapter of theCordillera People’s Alliance, which is the oldest indigenous people’s federation in the region.
The CHRA said the organization to which the Ligiws belonged had been the subject of vilification campaigns and branded an NPA front by the 41rst Infantry Battalion.
Freddie, who was indeed a former rebel, was, at the time of his death, also a member of the activist youth group, Anakbayan.
On Monday, Anakbayan and the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines staged protests at Mendiola Bridge and the Department of Justice in Manila to protest the death of Freddie.
In a statement, the CHRA said on February 19 Freddie had been forced by 41st IB troops to act as their guide during an operation in Lenneng, Domenglay, Licuan-Baay.
The CHRA said that, on the morning of March 2, Freddie left their home to join his father and brother at their pacalso or farm hut. The three failed to return home that night.
Anakbayan said on March 4 Freddie was scheduled to meet with human rights groups on being forced to guide the 41st IB.
On March 7, at least 50 residents and officials of Licuan-Baay formed a search team, which found the grave near the Ligiws’ hut.
Domenglay barangay captain Josephine Carino reported this to the town police, which retrieved the cadavers the next day.
When exhumed, the residents said the bodies of the Ligiws were piled up in the grave in fetal positions, their hands tied, and the two sons gagged.
Lawyer Jennifer Asuncion, CHRA vice chairman, said they will be filing cases against the suspects in the deaths of the Ligiws.
However, Cordillera regional police spokesman Vicente Limmong said they still had not identified any suspects and their investigation into the killings is still ongoing. The remains of the Ligiws were brought to the Pineda Funeral Homes in the capital town Bangued for autopsy.
The CHRA called for the demilitarization of Abra, saying the murder of the Ligiws had created a climate of fear in the province.
CHRA chairman Rene Cortes, Asuncion and deputy secretary general Audrey Beltran also urged Brigadier General Felix Brawner, a Cordilleran, to help initiate an impartial investigation of the 41st IB, which is commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Danilo Domingo.
“We do not subscribe to the AFP’s claim that the massacre was perpetrated by the NPA,” the CHRA statement said.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/82381/cordillera-rights-group-urges-pnoy-to-probe-army-battalion-for-deaths-of-abra-farmer-2-sons