Regular soldiers are sent to Metro Manila to help secure military facilities and Malacanang in times of red alert. For the first time since martial law, however, at least 40 soldiers are now holed up in Pandacan and villagers are puzzled what they are there for.

BY DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat.com

PANDACAN, Manila – Chief Inspector Linsley Pillejera of the Western Police District (WPD) Station 10 is certain. “There is no insurgency here,” he told Bulatlat in an interview.

Still, Pillejera runs out of reasons why soldiers, in full battle gear, now roam the streets of at least five barangays (villages) in Pandacan (Barangays 835, 865, 868, 870, and 872), all of which are under the jurisdiction of the WPD’s Police Station 10.

Pandacan has also been declared a danger zone by the Manila city government due to the presence of a huge oil depot. An accident or attack on the depot could trigger a conflagration that would hit even Malacanang grounds, where the presidential office is located.

Around 40 soldiers have been deployed in these barangays since Nov. 7, Pillejera said. They came from the Fort Bonifacio, the Philippine Army (PA) headquarters in Makati “under orders from above,” Pillejera added.

Barangay Resolution No. FCM-0017-06, a copy of which was obtained by Bulatlat from barangay secretary Ma. Remedios Diaz, states the team is headed by Capt. Jose O. Aycardo Jr. (CE), PA. The soldiers are here to “render community work mission,” it further said.

In a community dialogue between soldiers and residents of this barangay on Nov. 21, Diaz said the soldiers told them that other soldiers will be deployed in two other barangays (836 and 838) soon.

Both Pillejera and Diaz said the soldiers’ deployment here is indefinite. “Basta nag-courtesy call lang sila dito sa amin, sinabi lang nila na dito muna sila pero hindi naman binanggit kung kelan sila aalis” (They just paid a courtesy call on us and said they’re deployed here but didn’t reveal until when), Pillejera said.

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