CHR probes engineer’s death in Abra encounter

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) will conduct an investigation into the death of a civil engineer caught in a gunfight between soldiers and New People’s Army rebels in Lacub town the other week.

 CHR-Cordillera director Harold Kub-aron said they have received reports that soldiers from the 41st Infantry Battalion killed Fidel Salvador, a staff member of a non-government organization, during the military operation.

Salvador was visiting beneficiaries of socio-economic projects implemented by the Baguio-based Cordillera Disaster Response and Development Services when he was killed, according to his colleagues.

Another civilian, Noel Viste, was also among those killed in the same incident.

The military had claimed that Salvador was among the 10 communist guerrillas killed during the encounter. Arnold Jaramillo, alias “Ka Mando,” alleged secretary of the Abra political committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines was also among the fatalities.