BAGUIO City: Officials of two villages of Abra yesterday petitioned Malacañang to investigate the alleged indiscriminate bombardment by the military, which is pursuing New People’s Army (NPA) members who clashed with soldiers two weeks ago.
At least 27 officials of the villages of Umnap, Buanao and Lat-Ey in Malibcong town condemned the aerial bombings, particularly the bombardment on the Puro rice field in Lat-Ey in the morning May 31. The officials said that in their petition to Malacañang that one of the bombs dropped by the military “exploded 40 metres from the hut of Matilde Sacgragon where 14-year-old “John” and 17-year-old “Ken”, were gathering escargot at the nearby rice field.”
The bombardment is part of the pursuit operations of the Philippine Army’s 503rd Infantry Battalion against NPA members in the area. The military had assured that the bombardment was 500 metres away from residential areas.
The local officials, however, said in the petition that one more bomb was dropped 170 metres from the Hydro-Electric Power House and residential houses.
They said that the bomb exploded at least 60 metres from Ponciano Culangan’s rice granary and 120 metres away where Rommel Teneza was plowing.
“We have in our possession the bomb shells that we found in the area as proof,” the village officials said in the petition. Even as the Cordillera police reported of “aerial bombings” after the clashes two weeks ago, the Philippine Army declined to acknowledge the bombardment and insisted that their targets were “legitimate.”
The Philippine Star
