7th ID brings ‘cedula drive’ to Vizcaya mountain town

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — Villagers of a remote mountain town here are now reportedly living in fear after men of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division have brought their "cedula campaign," supposedly to flush out communist insurgents, to the area.

However, Capt. Wilfredo Martin, 7th ID information officer, dismissed the reports that soldiers have been harassing residents of Alfonso Castañeda town as mere "enemy propaganda."

Martin said the reports were just a rehash of earlier accusations hurled by militant groups against the 7th ID, led by Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan.

The 7th ID has lately been criticized for requiring residents of certain areas in Nueva Ecija to show their cedulas (community tax certificates), which, militant groups alleged, has led to military abuses.

However, Maj. Ernesto Torres, Army spokesman, in a statement, denied such abuses which included, as alleged by militant groups, forcing some villagers to eat their expired cedulas.

In requiring cedulas, Torres said soldiers of the 7th ID, which has jurisdiction over Central Luzon, merely want to verify the identities of people in so-called "rebel havens."

"These people who cry foul over the actions of our troops are the ones who have links with the communists," he said.

Torres said the 7th ID is merely targeting those whom barangay defense teams have tagged as "illegitimate residents."

Palparan earlier said that local folk are, indeed, duty-bound to secure cedulas.

Sources in Alfonso Castañeda town, which is dominated by Bugkalot natives, said soldiers arrest those who fail to produce cedulas.

Vice Gov. Jose Gambito said there is nothing wrong with asking a resident to show his cedula to ascertain his identity, "but not to punish anyone who has none or force (him) to get a cedula."

Alfonso Castañeda is about a four-hour drive from this capital town. It lies at the southeastern border of the province with Nueva Ecija and Aurora.

The mountain town hosts the multimillion-peso Casecnan multipurpose irrigation and power project.

The sources, mostly students from Alfonso Castañeda who are studying in this capital town, said soldiers allegedly go from house to house and ask the residents to show their cedulas.

Those who fail to do so, they claimed, are detained, or worse, forced to go naked until they or their families could produce cedulas.

The sources added that men of the 7th ID flag down passenger vehicles coming from Alfonso Castañeda and Aurora province in San Jose City and arrest those who have no cedulas.

But Martin belied the reports of harassment by their men.

"These accusations have no basis and are just repetitions of earlier allegations in other areas (where we operate) like in Pampanga where we, indeed, requested the native Aeta residents to secure cedulas, but nothing untoward occurred," he said.

Meanwhile, reports said the Army has also begun to implement a strict curfew not only in Alfonso Castañeda, but also in San Jose City and neighboring areas in Nueva Ecija.

The curfew reportedly starts at 9 p.m. in downtown San Jose City and lasts up to 7 p.m. in some remote areas. — With James Mananghaya