Military massacres lumad and peasants in Paquibato, Davao City

Press Release
KARAPATAN-SOUTHERN MINDANAO REGION
Contact: HANIMAY SUAZO, Secretary-General

ARMY ATTACKS IP-PEASANT LEADER; MASSACRES THREE CIVILIANS, WOUNDS A CHILD
(Killings happen day after a fact-finding mission in the area)

JUNE 14, 2015

DAVAO CITY- Human rights group KARAPATAN-SMR condemned in the strongest possible term the attack by elements of the 69th IB against a IP-peasant leader, resulting to the death of three civilians and wounds of a child.

Aida Seisa, secretary-general of Paquibato District Peasant Association or PADIPA, was talking over with guests in her home in Purok 7, Paradise Embac, Paquibato when an unknown number of military forces fired at them for over 30 minutes.

Seisa was able to escape, along with her husband and two children. The three guests (Ruben Enlog, datu of Sitio Manipis, and two others) were killed.

Ruben Enlog is the chairperson of the Nagkahiusang Lumad na Mag-uuma sa Paquibato (NAGKALUPA/ United Indigenous Peasants of Paquibato).

One of Seisa’s children was wounded, immobilized. Seisa’s residence was then cordoned off by the military, her child unable to get timely medical aid.

The corpses were then brought to the central area of the community. They were then photographed after guns and explosives were laid by their side, to falsely show that they were members of the New People’s Army.

KARAPATAN-SMR secretary-general Hanimay Suazo condemned the killings by the 69th IB, happening only a few days after a fact-finding mission was conducted in Paquibato by several concerned organizations.

“We have just wrapped up a fact-finding mission in Sitio Quimotod in Paquibato, where we documented bombings and harassments of the populace by the 69th IB. A few days after, state forces massacre civilians, adding up to their already long list of human rights violations.”

“This killing reflects the modus operandi of the Oplan Bayanihan: kill innocent individuals, then claim them as casualties in an encounter against the NPA. Truly the Oplan Bayanihan is against the people, and the 69th IB is the clearest manifestation of that.”