
By DOMINIC GUTOMAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – For more than a week, the forced “surrender” campaign in Agoo, La Union has intensified, targeting members of a fisherfolk organization.
Ilocos Human Rights Alliance (IHRA), a local chapter of human rights group Karapatan, reported on January 20 that seven alleged soldiers in plainclothes were going around with a list of 30 current and former members of Timek ken Namnama Dagiti Babassit a Mangngalap ti La Union (TIMEK La Union), forcing them to “register” their organization.
Prior to this, a military asset reportedly went around the community, forcing members of TIMEK La Union to go to the barangay hall of San Manuel Norte to avail of “ayuda” (socio-economic aid). IHRA said that the same military asset has been “notorious” in facilitating surrenders as an “NPA rebel” under the government’s Balik-loob Program in the coastal communities of La Union.
“In recent years, our organization has experienced this kind of harassment, where members of TIMEK are forced to sign an oath of allegiance, as if they had committed a crime simply for standing up for their rights as fishermen,” TIMEK La Union said in a statement.
TIMEK La Union is a local organization of small and poor fisherfolks fighting against reclamation. The group said that the facilitation of surrender of members of advocacy organizations has no basis, because it is the “right of the people to organize themselves based on their interest.”
In separate incidents on January 16, the Philippine National Police (PNP) “facilitated the surrender” of two individuals, namely Teresita Miranda Villanueva and Jindie Ruiz Lapasanda. However, the two were only civilians who claimed “ayuda” from the barangay.
In an affidavit filed by Villanueva with the Commission on Human Rights earlier this month, she said in Ilocano that she was shocked to find out that a news report from Bombo Radyo labeled her as “NPA surrenderee.” Prior to the news report, she was “interviewed” by three unidentified men when she was summoned in their barangay hall.
“They interviewed us. They gave us a document to sign. I did not read it because I thought it was just for the aid we were about to receive. After we were all interviewed, they handed out the aid, which consisted of five kilos of rice. Then I went home,” Villanueva related.
She also said in the affidavit that the three men were people they had never seen before. One of them was wearing civilian clothes, while the other two were in police clothes, wearing green pixelated FSU uniforms. Her neighbor and the three men also said that they should not trust George Cacayuran, the current chairperson of TIMEK La Union.
She added: “In the morning, George Cacayuran arrived at my house and told me that he saw on Bombo Radyo that I was being reported as a “surrenderee” and that barangay officials allegedly escorted me to the municipal office to surrender. My family and I were shocked because I am not an NPA member nor a “surrenderee.”
The incident coincided while the CHR was doing a public inquiry on red-tagging last week.
CHR Region 1 released an advisory in May 2023 about red-tagging, calling on the national and local governments, the military and law enforcement agencies, to stop the counterproductive practice of red-tagging. Despite this, the attacks have continued.
“These surrender campaigns and other programs under the brutal counter-insurgency program of the Marcos administration like the NTF-ELCAC and the Anti-Terror Law only serve to fatten the pockets and accomplishment reports of military officers and their cohorts, while violating the rights of ordinary citizens,” IHRA ended.
IHRA filed a complaint with CHR Region 1, urging them to investigate the continued forced and fake surrender campaigns in the region. They attached the affidavit of Villanueva, debunking the report that she surrendered. They also filed a blotter report at Barangay San Manuel Norte on January 17. (RTS, RVO)
Disclosure: The translations provided in this article were generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). ChatGPT was used to translate the original text from Ilocano into English.