DAVAO CITY ––The members of Philippine Army and the police personnel from Cabadbaran City in Agusan del Norte on Sunday, October 30 successfully exhumed the cadavers of five persons beleived to have been massacred by the members of the New People’s Army in 2021, in Sitio Baraboto, Barangay Curva in the town of Santiago, Agusan del Norte.
Soldiers from the Army’s 29th and 36th Infantry Batallions and personnel from Cabadbaran police acted after they received a tip reflected on a police blotter which corroborated with the information they received from former rebels who surrendered to them.
One of the fatalities was identified by the family through the clothes he last wore and other physical attributes. The Scene of the Crime operatives has yet to provide the names since the process of legal identification is underway.
The army in a press statement said they need to board a Blackhawk helicopter to reach Barangay Bancasi.
Based on the revelation of the families, their loved one’s were abducted all together sometime in May 2021.
Angry families shed tears as they looked on the remains of their loved one’s just in time for the commemoration of the All Saints and All Souls Day.
Lieutenant Colonel Cresencio Gargar, commander of the 29th Infantry (Matatag) Batallion in a statement said “We were saddened about the gruesome death of the innocent civilians who were finding ways to provide food for their families.”
Gargar said the act of killing hapless civilians “Is a clear manifestation that shows how immoral the CTG’s are, for simply dumping the dead bodies in a shallow grave, leaving their victims without giving respect to the families of those personalities whose lives were sacrificed in the wrong ideology of the CPP-NPA-NDF. On the other hand, we extend our deepest condolence to the bereaved families of the victims.”
He vowed that his troop will bring justice to the innocent civilians as his command will intensify their operations to hunt the communists insurgents.
The army commander thanked the civilians for trusting the army with the information which led to the retrieval of the cadavers.
He again called on the members of the communist group to go back to the folds of the law and live in peace.-ezc
