BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion is being accused by human rights groups in Negros Island of carrying out a pattern of attacks against farming communities in northern Negros Occidental, including the reported abduction of a farmer, the detention of civilians, and the strafing of a community during an April 6 operation in Calatrava town.
According to Human Rights Advocates Negros Island (HRAN), Farmer Jailove Patatag was abducted by suspected state agents aboard a white van at about 7:30 a.m. April 6 while he was on his way home on a motorcycle in Barangay Minapasok, Calatrava. The group called for Patatag to be surfaced and urged the Commission on Human Rights to investigate.
Such report came as the Army said troops of the 79th Infantry “Masaligan” Battalion encountered seven members of the New People’s Army under Roger Fabillar, at about 8:45 a.m. the same day in Sitio Proper, Barangay Minautok, Calatrava.
Photo Source: 79th Infantry “Masaligan” Battalion, 3ID, PA/Facebook
In a statement, the Army said the firefight lasted about five minutes before the armed group withdrew in different directions. It said pursuit operations were ongoing and accused the communist rebel group of responsibility for the killings of civilians in barangays in Escalante City.
The 79th Infantry Battalion said it remained focused on dismantling remaining factions of the New People’s Army and that it had assisted residents affected by the supposed encounter.
HRAN refuted claims that an encounter had taken place in the community. Combined forces of the 79th IB, the Special Action Force and police allegedly entered Sitio Pinyahon in Minautok at about 8 a.m. and allegedly fired indiscriminately in what human rights advocates described as an attempt to fabricate an encounter.
At least 12 people, including two children aged 8 and 10, were later detained at Minautok Elementary School after the reported strafing. The minors were released after 24 hours, while the other civilians were held for as long as four days, preventing them from returning home or attending to their livelihoods.
HRAN said the incidents followed earlier alleged threats against leaders of peasant associations in northern Negros. Soldiers reportedly surrounded the home of Jo-ann Pabalate, secretary of the Pinag-upakan Agrarian Reform Cooperative, in San Isidro, Toboso, on Feb. 16 and questioned her family about her whereabouts and alleged links to the NPA.
Pabalate was later followed by state agents and approached by two men in civilian clothes on March 16, one of whom allegedly showed a military ID and asked her to cooperate as an intelligence asset.
Another peasant leader, Loyda Lapiñosa of a local farmers’ association in Minautok, was visited March 14 by two bonnet-wearing men who allegedly tried to convince her to cooperate.
The rights group urged the withdrawal of troops from northern Negros communities, an independent CHR investigation and the resumption of peace talks, saying military operations would not address the roots of armed conflict.
Just two weeks after the events that unfolded in Calatrava, a separate military operation in Toboso, Negros Occidental, killed 19 people on April 19. The Toboso operation has been widely condemned by rights groups, youth organizations and advocates, and has faced nationwide scrutiny over possible violations of international humanitarian law, including questions over whether those killed included civilians, researchers, activists and persons who may have been hors de combat.
Paghimutad 