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MANILA, Philippines – Senator Leila de Lima is calling on the government to promptly and thoroughly investigate the deaths of members of the Tumandok tribe during a police operation against alleged loose firearms.
According to De Lima, if the reports he received were correct, then the incident involving the indigenous peoples (IP) of Panay Island is reminiscent of the “tokhang” style killings in which suspects are killed if they resist arrest.
De Lima, a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration and his war on illegal drugs, has been detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custody Center on drug-related charges.
“I join the call for an immediate and thorough investigation into the killings of 9 Tumandok leaders and the arrest of 17 others on December 30 by combined AFP and PNP forces in Panay,” De Lima said in a statement from his cell. of detention. .
“If the reports I received were accurate, the killings were committed ‘tokhang’ style, with state forces breaking into their homes at dawn, under the pretext of carrying out arrest warrants, and ultimately killing them because they allegedly resisted arrest. A familiar scenario that has been happening over and over again. All these leaders were victims of a rabid red label, “he added.
Before the end of 2020, activist groups condemned the killings of the leaders and members of the Tumandok tribe in Capiz, claiming that they are simply defending their ancestral land.
According to the human rights group Karapatan, nine members of the Tumandok tribe were killed while 17 others were allegedly arrested in a joint operation by the army and the police.
READ: Activist groups condemn the killing of land defenders in Panay
Reports late Thursday showed that the operation was led by the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.
Although relatives and witnesses affirm that the victims did not resist the arrest and that evidence such as firearms were placed, the police insist that it was a regular operation against loose weapons and that the victims – supposedly members of the New People’s Army – opened fire on law enforcement officials.
Western Visayas CIDG chief Colonel Gervacio Balmaceda said Wednesday that several firearms and explosives were seized from the homes of those killed and arrested.
“All nine died when they fired at law enforcement posts,” said Balmaceda.
READ: 9 PI villagers in Panay, labeled red, killed in 1-day military and police operation
De Lima said that it is as if the administration does not tire of the attacks committed throughout the year.
“Isn’t one year of bloodbath enough that has to end with a mass murder in one day? Isn’t this regime still a quota of massacres and should it end this year with a massacre of national minorities? De Lima asked.
The senator also highlighted the dangers of the red label again, saying that the practice of linking activists to the armed communist movement can be dangerous, as exemplified by the recent deaths of red-labeled personalities.
“Red labeling has become a weapon against freedom of expression and association, and has become a veritable death sentence for critics of the government. Ka Randy Echanis was labeled red before he was brutally murdered, and so were others like Zara Alvarez, Agaton Topacio, Eufemia Magpantay and Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan, ”said De Lima.
“And as much as we wish each death to be the last, we know that persecution and chaos will persist as long as the law is used with impunity as a weapon to quell dissent,” he added.
/ MUF
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