Sagada backpackers tagged as rebels

BAGUIO CITY — All that Rundren Berloize Lao, 24, and his friends were looking for was adventure. And they decided to head to the idyllic mountain resort town of Sagada in Mt. Province.

But they weren’t that lucky. In fact, Berloize cheated death and lives to tell his story of pain in the hands of his alleged tormentors.

Berloize and his gang, all supposed "punks" from different places, decided to trek to Baguio City last Feb. 11 to attend the annual Panagbenga or Baguio Flower Festival.

"Dahil sabi nila maganda daw ang Panagbenga (Because they said it’s nice to see Panagbenga)," he recalled.

Upon reaching Baguio City last Feb. 14, Berloize and his companions, together with a young girl, hitched a ride with a dump truck proceeding to the Baguio-Bontoc Road (Halsema Highway) at about 6 a.m.

At around noontime, Berloize said they were held by policemen looking for New People’s Army (NPA) rebels at a checkpoint in Barangay Bangao, Buguias town in northern Benguet.

"Tinutukan agad kami ng mga baril na mahahaba (They immediately poked long firearms at us)," he said.

He added that they were also kicked and beaten up. He showed this reporter signs of "torture" on his back, legs and arms.

Berloize said some of them were tied up and the others handcuffed when they were brought to the station of the 1,604th Police Mobile Group (PMG) at Camp Molintas in Abatan, Benguet.

"We were blindfolded and were asked if we were NPAs. They asked me who Simon Naogsan was," he recounted.

Naogsan was a former government engineer who joined the NPA in the 1990s. He is now reportedly the spokesman of the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front.

Naogsan was tagged as one of those who led the Feb. 10 NPA raid in Barangay Cabiten in Mankayan, Benguet where the rebels killed three soldiers and carted away 23 high-powered firearms.

Berloize, a former engineering student of the University of Mindanao, said this was the only time he heard about Naogsan and even the raid on Barangay Cabiten.

In fact, Berloize said he is not even an activist in school.

Their captors reportedly took mug shots of Berloize and his companions.

On the night of Feb. 14, some militiamen reportedly arrived at the 1,604th PMG headquarters and pointed to them as among those who took part in the NPA raid.

"Lima sa amin naturo at pinagbubuntal sa katawan (Five of us were identified by the militiamen and were beaten up)," Berloize recalled.

He also claimed that one of his companions was electrocuted while the others were forced to admit that they were activists.

On the night of Feb. 15, he said he got a chance to jump over a window and landed in the creek below. The policemen fired at him, but missed, he said.

Berloize said he then hitched a ride with at least three vehicles going to Baguio. Upon reaching the city, he sought help from the Department of Social Welfare and Development—Cordillera, which, in turn, turned him over to the regional office of the National Bureau of Investigation.

The NBI’s medico-legal officer examined him and took his sworn statement.

Last week, Philippine National Police chief Director General Arturo Lomibao said the policemen who arrested Berloize and his companions should be commended.

Standing by the Benguet policemen who held the group, Lomibao said it would be the policemen’s word against the latter’s.

Lomibao said the 11 arrested were identified by militiamen as those who took part in the NPA raid.

The 11, mostly youths, are now facing charges of robbery with homicide in the Regional Trial Court Branch 64 in Buguias, Benguet.

Police claimed that they were brought to northern Benguet for a test-mission.

After the Barangay Cabiten raid, Bumanglag said, "The group regrouped at the Burnham Park in Baguio City on Feb. 11 to plan their next mission in Mt. Province."

Bumanglag said the arrest foiled such a plan.

Those arrested are now detained at the Benguet provincial jail, while Berloize, according to authorities, faces arrest to answer for a crime, which he, however, swears he and his friends did not commit.

Last Monday, the parents and relatives of the detained youths appealed to President Arroyo for justice.

"How could children like them be rebels? And how could they be treated like this," Flordeliza Manoza, mother of 18-year-old Aldoz Christian Manoza of Santolan, Pasig City said.

Aside from Berloize and Monoza, the others arrested were identified as Darwin Alazar, 21, of Tipuso, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan; Arvie Nunez, of Silang, Mayaw, Lucena City; Ray Lester Mendoza, 16, of Makati City; Neil Russel Balajadia, 25, of Santolan, Pasig City; Jethro Villegas, 21, of Malagos, Calinan, Davao City; Anderson Alonzo, 18, of Malagos, Calinan, Davao City; Ronron Pandino, 20, of San Quintin, Laguna; Frencess Ann Bernal, 15, of Calumpang, Marikina City; and Jefferson de la Rosa, 20, of Santolan, Pasig City.