Residents of Barangay Sulitan, Catubig, Northern Samar firmly assert that Jerick Jugal was a civilian. He was among those claimed by the 20th IB to have been killed in a series of armed encounters with the New People’s Army (NPA) in the town of Catubig on November 5. They are calling for an investigation and justice for the victim’s death.

The 20th IB’s fabricated story claims that Jugal and another individual were killed in encounters between the military and the NPA in the mountainous area of Barangay Sulitan. Expressing his “condolences to the families of the deceased,” Mayor Solomon Vicencio of Catubig also echoed the 20th IB’s story without conducting a thorough investigation into the incident.

A resident of Catubig commented on the mayor’s statement, “What’s this, Mayor? The whole barangay knows that Jereck Jugal is a civilian. He’s just a young man. An investigation should be conducted.”

The resident, who is Jugal’s neighbor, described him as a responsible son who was his family’s sole breadwinner. “Then you accuse him without basis. He’s the victim here; the boy was murdered without a fight,” the resident said, calling on the mayor to help the victim’s family.

Other Catubig residents concurred the call for an investigation. “An investigation should have been done first before you issued a statement because that’s all a fabrication to avoid accountability for what happened. Many can attest that the boy is not an NPA (member),” one resident said. “You can’t understand because it didn’t happen to your family,” the resident added.

After the alleged encounters, residents of Barangay Sulitan and neighboring communities complained about the military’s restrictions. “My relatives are going hungry because the food we send to our families don’t reach them due to the military’s tight restrictions on civilians,” a resident commented on November 7.

The resident appealed to the battalion commander and the 8th ID to allow Barangay Sulitan residents to go to work. “How can they survive if they can’t even go to town to buy food?” the resident asked. The resident added, “you should be fair to the people.”

Meanwhile, to counter the growing call for investigation from the residents of Barangay Sulitan and Catubig, the Municipal Task Force-Elcac, local agencies, and the 20th IB who hypocritically distributed food in Barangay Sulitan and neighboring Barangay Magtuad on November 10. They distributed several kilos of rice, sardines, and coffee to 230 families in Barangay Sulitan and 225 families in Barangay Magtuad.

The 20th IB also used the food distribution to cover up the militarization and media blackout it is subjecting on the entire community. Lt. Col. Richard Villaflor is the current commander of the notorious 20th IB.