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Military program is 'wreaking havoc'

Military abuses force villagers to flee into the city
Military program is 'wreaking havoc'
Villagers from Quezon province seek refuge from the military in Manila
Published: September 04, 2012 09:05 AM GMT
Updated: September 04, 2012 09:07 AM GMT

An influx of peasant families from the Bondoc Peninsula in Quezon province have sought sanctuary in convents and religious institutions in Metro Manila in the past two weeks to escape the "constant fear and insecurity" of the ongoing military operations. "We cannot go on living in fear, so we decided to come out and appeal to President Aquino to put a stop to Oplan Bayanihan so we can go on with our lives," said 53-year-old Rosario Aquino. Oplan Bayanihan -- Operation Plan Cooperation -- is the government's counterinsurgency program launched in 2011. Aside from military operations, the plan includes the building of infrastructure and social services in conflict-ridden areas. Human rights activists and residents say the program has become a tool of the military to harass innocent civilians. But so far, their efforts to air their grievances to a government representative have been fruitless. Rosario Aquino said her son Jimuel, a 27 year-old who is mentally challenged, was beaten and tortured by troops from the 85th Infantry Battalion on August 2. "It confuses us how our government is supposed to be helping us overcome poverty but disrupts our lives with military operations," said Rosario's husband. The couple have brought Jimuel to Manila to plead for government intercession. They have left their 14-year-old son and a grandchild behind on their 2.5 hectare coconut farm. Farmer Artemio Mandado and his wife, two daughters and grandchildren have also left their farm to report their experience at the hands of the military. Mandado said he was beaten in his home by soldiers. "They were looking for a 45 caliber pistol that they said I was hiding in my house. They found nothing," he said. He claimed he was hit in the stomach with rifles. "They started interrogating and torturing me at five in the morning and released me four hours later," he said. "I don’t understand why the government allows these things to happen to us, impoverished as we are," said his wife, Nelita. The farmers are being cared for by Church workers under the Save Bondoc Peninsula Movement, an alliance that includes Caritas-Manila, the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary and the Protestant United Church of Christ in the Philippines. Orly Marcellana, the group's spokesperson, said they have sought the help of the Catholic Church to call for an end to the military operations. Bishop Broderick Pabillo, head of the bishops' social action secretariat, has promised to help. "But the bishop, said the Church cannot ask the government to pull the military out of Quezon because Oplan Bayanihan is a government program," she said. Human rights group Karapatan has recorded 200 cases of rights violations in Quezon province since the program began. At least eight battalions of combined military, police and the paramilitary Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit have so far been deployed in two districts of the province.

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