Soldiers from the 74th IB arrested two farmers in Sityo Canonghan, Barangay Osmeña, Palapag, Northern Samar on July 8. The victims, Ryan Arnesto and Marlo Turbanada, were in their koprasan (coconut silos) and collecting charcoal when the soldiers grabbed them. They are among the latest in the list of victims of human rights violations in the barangay.

The 74th IB butchers killed Arnesto shortly after the arrest. Residents said the soldiers desecrated his body. He was bruised and almost unrecognizable from the swelling and knife cuts on his face, arms and legs. He also had a bullet wound in the neck, under the chest and rib side.

Farmers who bore witness said the fascist soldiers strapped Arnesto to a coconut tree, tied and repeatedly jerked his head, before riddling his body with bullets. His body was then dragged like an animal to the adjacent Barangay Bagacay. Additional information identified soldiers named “Ringgo” and “Jojo” as members of the intelligence unit of the 74th IB who shot Arnesto.

Meanwhile, soldiers subjected Turbanada, a young farmer, to severe physical and mental torture. Residents said they saw Turbanada alive being forcibly dragged by soldiers during its combat operations against the New People’s Army (NPA).

The two farmers have long been targets of the military in its “surrender” campaign against civilians suspected of having links with and supporting the revolutionary movement. They were also among those who went to the center of Barangay Osmeña along with some other villagers to seek help from barangay officials to release their relatives who were illegally and unjustly detained by the soldiers.

The 74th IB detained Arnesto’s wife, Mylene Capoquian on May 2024, and his brother, a minor, on June 2.