Justice sought for 2 slain farmers

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – Various cause oriented groups here yesterday called on concerned authorities to help them in their search for justice for last month’s killing of two members of a local peasant group allegedly at the hands of the Army in the province.

Jansel Reyes, media officer of the National Democratic Front-Cagayan Valley (NDF-CV), said the families of Roger Aglugob, 32; and Maximo Sebastian, 39 ; are still being kept in the dark on whether they could achieve justice for their family members reported to have been killed by Army troops on Sept. 19.

Maj. Gen. Melchor Dilodilo, commanding general of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division whose command covers Cagayan Valley, Ilocos and Cordillera regions, vehemently denied the said reports, saying his troops had nothing to do with the killings.

According to the NDF-led militant groups here, Aglugob and Sebastian, of Gattaran and Camalaniugan towns here, were reported to have been abducted by elements of the Army’s 17th Infantry Battalion (IB) based in the province, and eventually tortured to death.

Reyes said they were hogtied and showed signs that they were beaten to death when their bodies were found days later after their reported abduction by the military.

This, they claimed, took place after seven Army troops were killed in an ambush staged by the New People’s Army in remote Barangay Bangatan, Gattaran.

Besides Aglugob and Sebastian, the NDF-CV, in a statement said that more farmers were victimized by the Army here, citing the case of one Rommel Ligut, 33; and Jikjik Cabang, 18; both of Baggao town, who were allegedly beaten up by 15th IB soldiers while working on their fields on Sept. 20.

Government troops, the statement added, also illegally entered and searched the house of farmer Sonny Roploc, also of Baggao and took an undetermined amount of cash and personal belongings, including a cellphone, portable generator, a speaker and a microphone used by the family for their sound system rental service.

“We do not condone extrajudicial killings and we want to fight our enemies fair and square,” Dilodilo said.

Stressing that the Army was not to blame for the killings, the general said that the two bodies had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and were obviously killed somewhere else.

Dilodilo also denied reports of Army troops being ambushed by rebels and going amok killing farmers in revenge.

“Nobody was killed in the encounter with the rebels as they had all escaped from our troops. Thus the report of soldiers ambushed is an outright lie,” he said.