The 47th IB detained a civilian resident of Barangay Masaling, Cauayan, Negros Occidental for several hours starting the morning of May 4. The soldiers detained Jose Escamilla for interrogation after they clashed with the New People’s Army (NPA)-Southwest Negros (Armando Sumayang Jr Command) in Sitio Matab-ang at 5 a.m. that day.
Fearing for Escamilla’s life in the 47th IB’s custody, his wife Manilyn immediately complained about his seizure by the soldiers. She told radio stations and local media that the 47th IB did not even provide information why her husband was taken and where.
Manilyn said the 47th IB soldiers interviewed them after its clash with the NPA, since the incident happened near their area. The soldiers also took their photos and listed their names and personal information. “They later spoke to my husband and someone on their radio told them to bring my husband,” she recounted to local media. Exposing the detention compelled the 47th IB to release him several hours later.
47th IB commander Lt. Col. Dennis Martinez defended his battalion’s actions. He said the soldiers’ did “a normal procedure” in line with an encounter in a community. Lt. Col. Martinez insisted they violated no laws or human rights, since Escamilla supposedly went with them voluntarily.
Lt. Col. Martinez’s statement contradicts the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) signed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines Negotiating Panel and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines on March 16, 1998 in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Part III or Respect for Human Rights, Article 2, Number 7 of CARHRIHL states, “The right not to be subjected to physical and mental torture, solitary detention, rape and sexual abuse, and other inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment, detention and punishment.”
Human Rights Advocates Negros (HRAN) condemned the military’s action and demanded respecting people’s human rights. “Arresting a peasant and subjecting him to interrogation without the presence of a lawyer violates his rights protected by the 1987 Constitution,” the group said.
NPA-Southwest Negros spokesperson Ka Andrea Guerrero also condemned the military’s action against civilian Escamilla. Guerrero said soldiers often do this to have someone to blame and vent their anger on or as retaliation.
In the past, Guerrero added, this has been a common modus of the military due to the failure of their operations against the NPA. “Civilians often become victims of intimidation, forced surrender, or the planting of fake evidence,” she said.
