The 62nd IB soldiers’ indiscriminate firing on the house of the Pecore family in Barangay Tala-on, La Libertad, Negros Oriental on March 15 brought fear and disruption to their lives and livelihood. The Cantela family suffered the same ordeal when soldiers raided their house in Sitio Pitik-Pitik, Barangay Luz, Guihulngan City on March 20.

Soldiers opened fire on the Pecores’ house at 9:18 p.m. The next day, the 62nd IB falsely claimed it encountered a unit of the New People’s Army (NPA)-Central Negros. Ka JB Regalado, spokesperson of the unit, refuted this.

“The truth is, no NPA unit was in the area. That soldiers confiscated a shotgun is also not true. The 62nd IB spread this lie to cover up their botched operation,” said Ka JB.

Meanwhile, soldiers forcibly entered, ransacked and destroyed the house of the Cantela family in Sitio Pitik-Pitik. They falsely reported having confiscated a .357 caliber pistol and another gun from the house. They also arrested farmer Ronald Cantela.

“The violence perpetrated by the 62nd IB against the people of Central Negros is not new but is a characteristic of the battalion itself,” according to Ka JB. Across the island of Negros, this battalion carried out 56 of the 67 recorded cases of human rights violations from January to March 15. It has killed four farmers this year alone.