Military urges evacuees in Samar town to return home

TACLOBAN CITY — The military yesterday urged around 120 families from six barangays in Calbiga town in Samar to immediately go back to their respective homes.

Army Col. Rey Lanuzo, commanding officer of the 62nd Infantry Battalion, said the residents have nothing to fear.

This is contrary to what militant and human rights groups have been reporting about the situation in the area, which they described as the site of mass evacuation from 41 barangays of Calbiga town because of alleged massive militarization that might result in human rights violations.

Lanuzo told The Star in a telephone interview that there is actually no mass evacuation in Calbiga except from few nearby barangays where six soldiers died in an ambush last May 9.

Residents in the barangay had evacuated to the poblacion of Calbiga for fear they might be harassed by government troopers.

Lanuzo, however, gave assurances that harassment is not part of the present clearing operations being conducted by military troopers and the fact is they are just running after armed communist rebels.

"It is a blatant lie that there was massive evacuation and that all residents were affected by military clearing operations. It’s just a small group that evacuated to the poblacion and most of them have houses there," Lanuzo said.

"They are not supposed to be afraid of the presence of the military troops and should go back to their homes," he added.

Unconfirmed reports said that close to 1,000 persons coming from different barangays in Calbiga had evacuated for fear of harassment by soldiers belonging to the 62nd IB, which is now conducting clearing operations as promised by 8th ID commanding officer, Major Gen. Jovito Palparan.

Lanuzo surmised that what is happening now in Calbiga may be a strategy of the New People’s Army (NPA) to get the sympathy of the people through black propaganda using militant groups as their front as well as the innocent farmers.

Meanwhile, human rights and other progressive groups here have formally filed a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights regional office here against the military troops belonging to the 62nd Infantry Batallion for alleged human rights violations.