ILOILO CITY Despite the commemoration of Human Rights Day, an army general and members of the left-leaning Bayan Panay are still engaged in a word war over the attack that killed at least nine New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Miag-ao town, Iloilo province. Maj. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, commanding
Published January 2, 2021, 2:16 PM
ILOILO CITY – Several advocacy and church groups have condemned the killing of members of indigenous peoples (IPs) Panay Bukidnon, or Tumandok, in simultaneous police raids conducted in alleged New People’s Army (NPA) hotspots in Iloilo and Capiz last December 30.
Cops in fatigue uniforms during simultaneous raid of alleged hotspots of New People’s Army in Iloilo and Capiz provinces. (Photo courtesy of Panay Today / MANILA BULLETIN))
“Those killed were recognized indigenous community leaders in their respective barangays (villages). They were civilians and not armed combatants,” said Panay Alliance Karapatan in a statement.
Units of the Philippine National Police (PNP), led by the Western Visayas office of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG-6), conducted a simultaneous raids on December 30 to implement 28 search warrants for illegal possession of firearms and explosives in remote villages of Calinog town in Iloi
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Nine Tumandok Indigenous people were killed and 10 others were arrested in police operations on Panay Island on December 31 in what rights groups labeled a “massacre.”
The killings came a week after an off-duty police officer was charged with murder after being caught on video killing a mother and son during an argument.
Philippine police said the Indigenous leaders had fought back after being served search warrants, although the human rights group Panay Alliance Karapatan denied this allegation.
The Tumandok leaders had campaigned against the construction of the nearby Jalaur Dam, which would impact the community’s ancestral lands.
“Those killed were recognized Indigenous community leaders in their respective [communities]. They were civilians and not armed combatants,” Karapatan said.