PRESS RELEASE
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines

CPP counters Philippine Army's story of NPA captured in Quezon
May 5, 2005

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today countered claims by the Philippine Army about the alleged capture in Gumaca, Quezon this morning of four NPA guerrillas.

In a statement, CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said that the four individuals the military had supposedly arrested this morning in Gumaca were part of a group of at least six civilians, including an urban poor leader and local barangay officials who were illegally arrested yesterday morning in Barangay Quinalin, Calauag, Quezon.

Rosal lambasted Armed Forces 2nd Civilian Relations Group chief Maj. Jose Broso for concocting a story to cover up the civilians' illegal arrest, calling him an "inveterate liar".

Among those abducted yesterday morning in Calauag was Leng Jucutan, an officer of the Southern Tagalog chapter of Kadamay, a national federation of urban poor organizations. Also arrested were civilians Berto Capistrano, two women identified only as Tess and Lea, the local Sangguniang Kabataan chair and a barangay councilor.

The soldiers also robbed cash and ransacked the house where Jucutan was staying.

Rosal condemned the abduction as part of the AFP's "dirty war" which targets civilians and later brands them NPA guerrillas or supporters.

"If not for the prompt action of human rights groups, those arrested would have likely ended up as victims of summary execution by the military," Rosal said.

The Calauag abductions are the latest in a series of illegal arrests perpetrated by the Philippine Army in Quezon. On April 25, elements of the Philippine Army arrested Ramil Auren of Sitio Villaminda, Barangay Sto Ni�o-Ilaya, Lopez, Quezon and Poling Evangelista and Ruel de San Luis of Sitio Baliswang, San Francisco B, Lopez, Quezon.

Rosal branded the recent spate of harassments, illegal arrests and abductions in Quezon carried out by the military against civilians as "terrorist retaliation" for the losses the AFP suffered last week in the battlefield.

Rosal noted that 11 combat troopers of the AFP under the 201st IBde were killed on April 24 in a firefight with the NPA Apolonio Mendoza Command in Sitio Villaminda, Barangay Sto Ni�o-Ilaya, Lopez, Quezon. The NPA repulsed the attacking soldiers despite the latter's numerical superiority, and retreated without suffering a single casualty.

"The AFP is totally contemptible for venting its fascist ire on unarmed and defenseless civilians," Rosal said. "They are desperately trying to cover up their shame in the battlefield by such shameless acts of fascist terrorism."

Reference:
Anne Buenaventura
Media Officer
Cellphone Number: +63910-240-3553



Back to top