Militant leaders to text army when in danger

SHORT of assigning military escorts to protect the life of cause-oriented group leaders allegedly threatened by assassins' bullets, Philippine Army 302nd Brigade Commander Colonel Arthur Tabaquero swapped mobile phone numbers with the threatened leaders. With the army's number, militant group's leaders are expected to tip the military of suspicious tails, thereby escaping the crosshairs.

The threat has also pushed sectors to ask for the Local Peace Forum (LPF) to convene and act on similar pressing concerns. Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Provincial Chair Victor Olayvar told the LPF members that William Boybanting of Hugpong sa mga Mag-uuma'ng Bol-anon Chair (HUMABOL), Tomasa Curangcurang Santos (Kahugpungan sa Aliciahanong Mag-uuma) and Felipeneri Bejasa (Humabol Vice Chair) are in the military hitlist.

They added that a poison literature that hit the streets connected them to the Communist Party of the Philippines / New People's Army/ National Democratic Front (CPP/NPA/NDF), a similar vilification move preceding other cases of political killings of militant leaders across the country. As the Local Peace Forum (LPF) was convened yesterday at the Governor's Mansion, Chairman Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak and Vice Chair Governor Erico Aumentado both asked military leaders to put a stop to alleged political killings and also urged militant leaders to hold their allegations, pending verification.

Citing the same list which allegedly comes from a sympathetic source at the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), Bayan Muna Provincial Coordinator John Ruiz III said they fear of a neutralization which roughly means physical elimination of targets. Over the allegations, both Col. Tabaquero and 15th Infantry Battalion Commander Colonel Cirilo Donato vehemently denied the hitlist, further questioning the ISAFP document.

The document bears no signature and ISAFP has not been owned it so far, Col. Tabaquero points. Insisting it was similar to what happened to downed leaders across the country, local militant leaders demanded protection. It was this issue that pushed Governor Aumentado to ask Chair Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak to convene the LPF. Weeks ago, the governor asked the militant group leaders to show proof of the threats and refrain from threatening the government with pickets.

Stressing a need to achieve peace as requisite for Bohol development, the LPF passed a resolution urging the local police and the military to uphold their pledge to protect life. Seeing the crucial role of dialogs over similar disputes between parties, both Aumentado and Tumulak call on for more avenues of talk, even as the government is yet suspending the peace talks.

The LPF passed a resolution yesterday calling for the continuance of the talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and CPP/NPA/NDF. In Bohol , with the suspended peace talks following the CPP/NPA/NDF pullout when they were tagged communists, local insurgents tired of the protracted war started coming to the negotiating table, even with a Jose Ma. Sison order not to. This is also set in the background of businessmen complaining of alleged NPA extortion activities in their demands for revolutionary taxes. This came even before People's Fair Trade Assistance Center Engr. Vicente Loquellano pressed that the revolutionary taxes hurt local farmers. Loquellano's point also supported Akbayan-partylist Etta Rosales naming the NPA extortion activities as gangsterism. The LPF also passed a resolution urging the rebels to stop collecting revolutionary taxes.

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